http://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/20081009_1.htm
In an exclusive adapted extract from his forthcoming book, Finding Happiness, Abbot Christopher Jamison examines the modern attitude to the Seven Deadly Sins and re-introduces us to the sin that never made the list. How has our neglect of acedia, or spiritual apathy, affected our culture?
"...Yet looking more closely... it is surprising that those who saw cruelty as the top sin did not connect it to anger as the source of cruelty and that they did not see lust as the source of adultery. People today see wrong doing solely in terms of outcomes. The private sphere is mine to command exactly as I like and in the public sphere I have only to avoid harm to others. In so far as they are seen as key actions that harm others then the Seven Deadly Sins are indeed unhelpful. They are only useful when seen as describing the principal human tendencies that lead people away from living well towards harmful actions. In other words, their usefulness is dependent on believing that spiritual awareness is a vital dimension of human life and that without such self-awareness there is no happiness. The Seven Deadly Sins were never intended as a guide to harmful actions but as a guide to the roots of harmful actions; when viewed in that way, their insights continue to challenge us to greater personal honesty about our innermost thoughts."
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