Monday, January 15, 2007

boredom

i mentioned this in a post or comment the other day, not sure which. But since then i've been thinking a lot about it....i'm referring to

the destructive power of BOREDOM.

My guess is that it might be different for different people, but i find that for me, being bored is quite dangerous. It seems to be a breeding ground for other negative things. here are a few.

1. lust/greed/gluttony (to name a few). I find that when i'm surfing the web with no point b/c I'm bored, i'm much more likely to feel tempted toward 'not so good things' on the computer. It's like there's something in my brain that is longing to be jolted into activity, no matter if it's good or bad. It's also at these times when i find myself tempted toward more "benign" but still destructive things like looking at houses on realtor.com and flipping thru the latest pottery barn catalog looking at the new sofa we NEED. And gluttony? simple. When i'm bored i find myself eating, not because i'm hungry but just because i'm bored.

I guess boredom for some reason causes me to give my appetites too much credence and it's not usually good.

2. discontentment. likely because of what happens above, i soon find myself tortured by discontentment. I guess it's the way my appetites get back at me when i shut them down. I wrote about that the other day. I'll spare you the details again here.

3. spiritual apathy. This one doesn't make sense to me, b/c when i'm bored it SHOULD mean that i'm more open to engaging in spiritual disciplines (study, prayer, mediation, fasting, you get the picture...) but i'm not. There's this line of boredom, where if i cross it, none of these things sound remotely interesting to me. Ironically these are the things that have some of the greatest promise for pulling me out of boredom, but when i'm in that state i want nothing to do with them.

4. mean-guy-ness. :) I get mean when i'm bored. I pick at my wife. I get sarcastic and grumpy. it seems that i think fighting with people passes for entertainment and some days i guess i prefer that to boredom. it's twisted, i know.

i could go on. i guess the remedy is to remember my calling that i'm saved by grace and created to do good works eph 2:8-10. to avoid apathy and stay active serving God and fulfilling His mission. But i must admit that even that sounds overly simplistic. And meanwhile i wonder if poor laborers in India get bored... or is it a curse that goes with great wealth?

this post is coming to no strong conclusion or "ta-da!" moments... sorry, i guess i'm losing interest :)

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18 Comments:

At 1/15/2007 08:59:00 PM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

First off...don't lose interest. We love reading your posts...it helps to pass the boredom, haha.

Boredom is a big issue i deal with as well and i can completely relate to everything you mentioned.

For my boredom the internet used to be one of the first places i would go as you know, but recently, like i told you before i have been able to keep myself busier with my designing and such or i am just not on the internet at all. Find a hobby. =P Boredom sucks but you tell me about all these books you need to read. Imagine how many you could read to keep from getting bored. =)

Also, i understand the mean-guy-ness because i get the same way when i am bored and it drives the people around me nuts.

But like you said...the best way to get over it is to remember what it says in eph 2:8-10 and several other places throughout the bible (no specifics though) =)

 
At 1/16/2007 12:08:00 AM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

Wow, if that wasn't so me I'd have found that really boring. I am most certainly apt to the first more than the others, although it's compounded by the problem that when trying to break my boredom, the negative things seem so much more desirable than the loads of positive things I could be doing. So um, yeah, no solution here either.

 
At 1/16/2007 08:07:00 AM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

Thanks for your honesty. It really is refreshing to read something so 'real' out there. Something that I think everyone can identify with on some level.

I hate to say it, but maybe one of the answers is.....community. (crap, I can't believe i SAID that!) I guess I mean more specifically friendships. (to me community doesn't imply that).

I think having stuff to do with friends can be good at keeping us honest and reevaluating our boredom. I believe most of the temptations you mentioned really happen alone.

While all the spiritual tasks you mentioned sound really really hard to do during those funks, hanging out with a good buddy can be fun and beneficial. (depending on the buddy i suppose!)

 
At 1/16/2007 08:33:00 AM , Blogger Dion said...

thanks for the empathy guys... i always think of the bible verse "no temptation has seized you except what is common to man" i love that b/c it reminds me that my struggles are never MY struggles alone... that a whole lot of other people share them.

and linda i love the thought about friends. a good friend is usually a great way to lift me out of a funk and get me doing those other spiritual things. maybe part of my problem is that i feel like friends are OPTIONAL in life, you know if it fits in nicely. But that's not very biblical.

Thanks all.

 
At 1/16/2007 09:34:00 AM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

I'm with Joe on this one. If that wasn't SO me.....well, it is, though.

Working at home without any co-workers you quickly learn that boredom doesn't just lead to temptation...boredom IS temptation.

I've recently learned there's only one reaction to approaching boredom: RUN. Run as fast as you can in the other direction.

Now, the "Christian" response is "Run to God". Which is right. However, I think too often when people say this, they mean "Run to scripture" or "Run to prayer". The reality is (yes, I'm going to say it, and only have the guts because CS Lewis wrote an entire chapter on this idea) study and prayer are BORING!

I think we can run to God in other ways. He's not just a bible or a prayer. He's anything truly good and true. For me, this realization sends me running to something good (which, for me, happens to be heading to the gym...as Linda points out, it could be Community, it could be a good book, it could be anything which God deems good)

So, when I know I'm going to be bored (which, for me arrives at exactly 2pm every day), I schedule a visit to the gym, or somewhere else....so I won't be home when boredom arrives.

Anyway, fantastic post: I can obviously relate.

 
At 1/16/2007 10:18:00 AM , Blogger Dion said...

thanks.

A few interesting things. I like the idea that you know when temptation/boredom will hit. I want to pretend that i'm caught by surprise, but i'm not. I know when it's coming. Thanks for bringing that to light.

also the idea about "clinging to what is good" for me when i'm exercising the spiritual disciplines i feel less inclined to this kind of struggle. but when i'm in the struggle the spiritual disciplines aren't the answer. but other "good" things that sounds much more doable. hmm. very interesting. thanks.

 
At 1/17/2007 12:31:00 AM , Blogger Knight George said...

As all the previous posts have said, yes boredom is a problem we all face. It is how we handle our “spare time” that ultimately decides our next steps. If we look at boredom as a problem, which I also find it hard not to, then we look at it as a vice that we can’t overcome. However, if we look at boredom as a reminder to a greater purpose such as reading a parable or praying for God to speak to us instead of surfing the net for “wisdom”, we will find that our weaknesses are actually our strengths. More precisely, our weaknesses allow God’s strength to shine more powerfully.

As for your boredom Dion, I believe that you need a fellow Christian who is facing the same challenges, which as we have noticed there are a lot of us out there, to be accountability partners for each other. I am not discounting any pain or sorrow that comes from boredom, I am just reminding all of us that there is a bigger goal here and that is to spread the Gospel in whatever way the Holy Spirit is moving us to speak.
Truth can be found in things other than the Bible and prayer, but I find it hard to believe that truth can be found in a gym where the only focus is on “self-improvement”, not self-edification, unless you are listening to an audio Bible on your iPod while running on the treadmill. I take delight in studying God’s Word and furthering my soul, which is something that I can take with me into eternity, but my Lifetime Fitness body will rot here on earth when I am gone. In response to the C.S. Lewis comment he also wrote this; "Try to exclude the possibility of suffering which the order of nature and the existence of free-wills involve, and you find that you have excluded life itself."--The Problem of Pain. I am also curious where he said that “study and prayer are boring” and what was the context in which he was saying that?
All together, these posts have been eye-opening to me and hopefully to most of you so take my reply as playful banter. My goal is to create a multi-faceted view on “boredom” rather than an “I agree with everything you just said and will say from here on out”. We need to challenge each other so we can grow intellectually and spiritually for the sake of the Gospel!!! God bless all of you!!!

 
At 1/17/2007 06:16:00 AM , Blogger Dion said...

sir george, thanks for posting a comment and i appreciate the challenge. You are right to put this stuff "out there" for discussion. Thanks.

i agree with you 100% on the purpose of spreading the good news of Jesus Christ through my life. I think that's the double edged sword of boredom, not only am i 'bored' but i'm generally NOT active fulfilling the purpose for which i was created and redeemed (the eph 2:8-10 quote). And i know that when i am doing that pretty well, there is no boredom in me. It's when i'm not doing it so well that i end up in the downward spiral of boredom.

My struggle is how do you get back on the wagon when you've fallen off. In my life, when i'm in the depths of boredom, i have trouble saying "i should just go and engage in personal mission or spiritual disciplines" ...don't get me wrong, i think that's the point i ultimately need to get to, but the steps to get there are a little tougher for me.

So i see these other things that have been mentioned as interim steps to get me back out of the realm of apathy and back into the life of "good works" which i was created in Christ Jesus to do.

You bring up an "accountability partner" to me, that's what i'm thinking of when the issue of coffee with a good friend is brought up. I'm talking/thinking of someone i can be honest with in my struggle and someone who can give me a kick in the pants when i need it. i think, like you suggest, that this is a great way to help get someone back on track, but i know that Christ-centered community is ALSO a purpose for which i was created in itself. So i guess i'm defending it as a "good thing" for those two reasons (i think you are agreeing, right?)

on the gym note. I gotta go here to challenge something you said. The gym is not about self-improvement (vanity) for me. It is about discipline (which helps me be disciplined in other areas of my life) and good stewardship of my body. It renews me physically, burns off stress, and makes me more equipped to do my work as Christ's ambassador. But it also renews me spiritually because i DO take my ipod loaded up with podcasts from solid christian teachers who are sharpening me while i take care of my body. I think the gym would be good even without this ipod component, but for me it does help me keep my mind on what is good and keeps me from turning the gym into a few hours of vanity... that IS a danger.

Furthermore, this body of mine has been created by God, and has been washed by God in Baptism. This body is being sanctified by God and is a temple of his Holy Spirit (as a part of the Church, THE Temple). God will use this body to preach the good news, he'll use my arms to encourage a hurting brother with a hug. He'll use my hands to applaud those who are running the race with perseverance and also to deliver his sacraments. All that said, i believe this body DOES matter incredibly to God, it must be cared for well if i am to serve God with my life here, and even as Job said, "and after my skin has been destroyed yet in my flesh i will see God" my body will have an eternal redemption too. it will "rot" as you said, but yet somehow it will also be changed to be "like His (Christ's) glorious body" in the meantime it should be cared for well.

besides all that, i'm amazed at the opportunities God DOES open up for witness thru the gym. To reach the world for Christ it seems that it's important to be out in the world sometimes :)

yikes, this is getting really long. sorry. But what i love most about what you said is that boredom can be a reminder... i like that idea. Boredom is a reminder that i'm "missing it" somehow. That there's a greater purpose that i'm not tapping into fully enough and maybe that's why i'm tempted, crabby, discontent, etc. great points. Thanks again for joining the discussion

 
At 1/19/2007 03:58:00 PM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

Just an fyi. The CS Lewis chapter I referenced is in Letters To Malcom, and is chapter XXI. In it, he is talking primarily about prayer, but about spiritual disciplines in general. He talks, frankly, about how many of these disiplines are "irksome", yet are highly beneficial to us and our relationship growth with God.

One of my favorite lines in it is: "And we know that we're not alone in this. The fact that prayers are constantly set as penances tells its own tale." I love that...just a little poke at his Catholic brethren.

Personally, I think if people don't often find the spiritual disciplines difficult and boring, they're not being very honest with themselves.

 
At 1/21/2007 09:22:00 PM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

hey pastor dion thanks for letting my friends and i interview you for our english project! i'll see you at church soon.

 
At 1/21/2007 11:03:00 PM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

if i ultimately didn't find a sense of joy and fulfillment in the spiritual disciplines, why would i want to practice them regularly?

just because the word "discipline" is used doesn't mean that it has to be a painful experience. we misuse the word discipline more to mean punishment (as in, spanking a child). Doesn't discipline really mean in it's roots "training to be a disciple"?

i happen to think, for the most part, that Jesus' disciples ENOJOYED the time spent being trained, mentored, or shall we say "disciplined" by the Master. Aren't the things we call "disciplines" really different means to the end of meeting with Jesus, being with Him, getting to know Him? And, isn't he calling us friends? FRIENDS?!?! i LIKE being with my friends. and, honestly, for the most part, i ENJOY the "disciplines" because they are different means of meeting with my friend.

i understand that this post could come off as sounding "holier-than-thou". please disregard it if you feel that way. but i just thought i'd throw in a different perspective... and here's a final thought, if there's no real joy to my soul and spiritual life through so-called disciplines, why bother anyway? God still love me, I'm not gonna lose that or earn it with my "works". If I'm not experiencing his love through it, it's a waste, isn't it?

 
At 1/22/2007 07:06:00 AM , Blogger Dion said...

hey holly. you're welcome. glad we could help out.
remember you promised no putting me on TV in front of your whole class and laughing about it :)

 
At 1/22/2007 07:24:00 AM , Blogger Dion said...

anonymous, maybe i've been doing a poor job of explaining myself here. The point of my original post wasn't to undermine the worth of the spiritual disciplines. not at all. As i said, when i'm regular in prayer, study, meditation, etc, things are actually better in my life. I feel more grounded, i'm more at peace. I can't say that i find them joyous always, like you do, but i do find them very meaningful and worthwhile, and yeah there's joy sometimes.

i was commenting on how when i'm in a funk, it's hard to use the disciplines to pull me out. i guess because that seems an awful lot like trying to pull yourself out of quicksand. I came to realize thru all this discussion that sometimes I need an interim step (something else "good") to get me back up to the place where i can engage in other good things like the disciplines. make sense?
in my mind...
disciplines=GOOD THINGS
but when i'm in a boredom trough
disciplines=good things, but hard to get a hold of in that state.

that's me, i can't speak for anyone else.

i wanted to put my perspective in on the worthiness of the disciplines. i don't find them to always bring joy. i'm not sure the disciples did either all the time (remember the infamous falling asleep a few times while jesus asked them to stay awake and pray in the garden?) but they are still good. As I mentioned above, i find something deeper in them than joy. I find grounding, roots, something that steadies my manic passions and gives me direction. sometimes i really do find joy, don't get me wrong. But most often i engage in things like the spiritual disciplines because i know it's good. I see the good fruit in my life. I do the disciplines for the same reason i go to the gym and eat my vegetables and take my vitamins. I know i'm healthier when i do them and more suited to serve God, just like you suggest... more suited to be his disciple....

golly i write too much, sorry :) thanks for sharing your perspective, i wonder if this is a demonstration of how different we all are, and how we even find different approaches and values in our spiritual walk with God. it's riveting... thanks for being a part of the dialogue!

 
At 1/23/2007 09:30:00 AM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

I guess, just to pipe in my 2 cents on this, I'd suggest the following:

If you're doing your spiritual disciplines because they bring you joy or happiness, then you may be doing them for the wrong reason. (no offense intended, anonymous)
What happens if, one day, they no longer bring any joy or peace? What happens if they suddenly felt like a chore? Would you still do them? Would they still be worthwhile?

I guess I feel like this is a selfish reason to practice them. In the end, Spiritual Dicsiplines are not for us (per se) but for Him....as Dion suggests, on the surface, they're for you (to make you healthier), but ultimately, they're for building the kingdom and spreading the love of Christ.

I guess don't agree that spiritual disciplines are about ME at all....therefore, I think the question of them being boring or exciting or hard or easy is irrelevent. They're just plain necessary.

 
At 1/23/2007 04:17:00 PM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

sorry, i'm sure i was misunderstood. and, sorry i didn't identify myself. my name is Jessie (Still). Dion knows me. I forgot to put my name on my post (i'm not in this blog network, so it calls me "anonymous"). I don't believe our seeking the Lord should be selfishly motivated, absolutely not. I just wanted to say... I don't know... many times we think that the God thing is "hard"... and it can be... or that it's "boring".... but God is NOT boring! Anyhow, I'm not trying to prolong the debate... probably no one is even reading this one anymore.. lol... but i'll say this:
"the cheif end of man is to glorify God and ENJOY Him forever"
"God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him."
true?

 
At 1/23/2007 05:35:00 PM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

Jessie,
I would agree. Total satisfaction in Christ is our goal. He expects nothing less. The problem lies in the reality of our sinful being...and our falling short of what He expects.

The chief end of man IS to enjoy God and glorify him forever...but because of our sinful nature, that's something we screwed up. I don't believe it's possible to fully do that here (on earth)...only when we've moved onto heaven or the Next Age.

This is the exact reason I've always had a hard time with Praise songs....they're always singing about how "I love God perfectly, I sing of Your Glory day and night...". But, the reality is: we don't. We grumble about our lives, we lie, cheat and steal, and we generally don't appreciate the Wonder that He is.

I guess I'm just suggesting that those things you mention are absolutely true, however absolute truth doesn't happen in flawed humans...only in perfected ones....and we'll have to wait for that.

 
At 1/23/2007 10:31:00 PM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

Reading all of the commments helped to cement something for me. During Christmas break, I was bored out of my mind! It was truly terrible. My scheduled, "disciplined" life was completely out of sorts. It wasn't a vacation. I spent endless hours stuffing my face with food I didn't need and watching tv that I'm certain contributed to a few thousand lost brain cells. It was disgusting. But here's what I just realized... when I feel like I own my time, my days, hours and minutes I am sorely mistaken. If I think that I can "relax" and do nothing because "hey I work hard" I have deluded myself. I am living on borrowed time. It's the time that Christ has given me as a gift to accomplish great things in His name and in His strength. And when I'm not doing that work I will suffer for it. Science is right, it is (sinful) nature to atrophy, but that is what we are so often pulled to.
To take it a step further it's not just HIS time that we waste, I'm thinking about all of HIS resources- health, wealth, talents... you get the point.
I guess I knew this but it didn't really come together until just now. So thanks!

 
At 1/24/2007 08:40:00 AM , Blogger Dion said...

i used to hate the idea of "structuring" my free time. It seemed like the opposite of FREE time, but i've found (personally) that if i don't have structure, i'll end up wallowing in boredom, which means all of the stuff i mentioned in the original post. Structure and limits ENHANCE my freedom and my ability to feel rested and renewed.

 

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