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The Noonday Devil
The Noonday Devil: Acedia
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Noonday Devil Chapter Two
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Susan Margaret
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Apr 19, 2016 10:50PM
I am about half way finished with my reading of chapter two. I have noticed that beatitude and charity are frequently mentioned in this chapter and they are used in a meaning that is new to me. When I think of charity, giving and kindness comes to mind. When I hear the word beatitude, I relate it to the eight beatitudes in Matthew and Luke. I think this is a chapter that I will probably have to read twice as I am having a little trouble understanding. Nault says that "the thing in common between him (God) and man, should be beatitude, in other words, participation in his own life", (page 69). I don't understand the meaning of beatitude in the previous phrase.
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I was having the same issue, sort of...when I looked up the definition of 'beatitude', it said, 'supreme blessedness'. If I substitute that for the word beatitude...it makes much more sense to me in many places in this chapter and helps me understand better...I think!There is alot to digest in this chapter, with so many details, I'm trying not to get too hung up on all the sets and subsets of ideas, but more how they all fit the big picture...
Thanks Susie. That helps! Charity of friendship was also another odd phrase for me.
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In Bishop Robert Barron's 'Catholicism' Series he translates the word 'beadotudo' as 'joy.'
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I read ch. 2 yesterday. It was a bit more challenging for me than ch. 1 because I have done far less reading of Aquinas than I have read in the Patristic era. But, I am finding that this book explains complex ideas in a way that is very accessible without being simplistic. It is interesting to watch the evolution of our understanding of this vice.
Irene...I think your comments are right on and I am liking that this is a completely new concept for me, at least how it is being laid out, and the teaching that it is rooted in is new as well...Manny, very sorry to hear about your uncle...hang with us when you can...
Manny wrote: "Oh wow, I didn't realize you guys had gotten this far on the discussion. I've been so busy at work, and now we had a death in the family, a beloved uncle, I will be a little behind. I'll provide ea..."Sorry to hear about your uncle Manny!
I'm still waiting for my copy to arrive, though Amazon says it should finally get here over the weekend. So I'll certainly be lagging in my comments.
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That last segment with William of Ockham is fascinating. I knew of Ockham's razor, but I didn't know just how far-reaching his influence became.
I wondered if that was the same guy...looks like it's spelled differently than what I'm familiar with...Occam's razor...Thanks for making the connection...
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Thanks for making the connection..."
Now that you mention it, I did check the spelling. It is William of Ockham and Occam's razor -- at least on Wikipedia.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William...
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In essence what I got from it is this:
God pours his love out to us. We receive it, accept it, react to it, and act upon it. Then we reciprocate with gratitude, thanksgiving, praise, and worship to God. This in turn renews the cycle which we experience as joy and a deeper communion with God.
Acedia, then, is a deliberate attack and disruption to this reciprocal flow of love between God and man. And because there are multiple stages in this reciprocal interchange there are multiple points of attack.
Looked at it from this perspective, we see immediately that if I am listless or bored, I get attacked at the point when I should put God's love into action. Or if I engage in busyness I am attacked at the point of receiving God's love, etc. I am sure there are myriad of ways of interpreting this depending on the context and how we are attacked, hence all the different ways in which acedia manifests itself.
Susan Margaret wrote: "Thanks Susie. That helps! Charity of friendship was also another odd phrase for me."A lot of this terminology is new to me as well Susan Margaret. I did find the intimacy of "friendship" in terms of relationship with God very touching though.
Wikipedia says that for Aquinus Charity (Caritas) is an "altruistic love" seated in the will and not the emotions. It's like love, but he wants to distinguish it from the more ordinary secular definition of love.
It seems though as if on page 68, Nault is saying that 'charity of friendship' is that special reciprocal love in one's relationship with God that is like a friendship?
Am I understanding correctly?
Irene wrote: "But, I am finding that this book explains complex ideas in a way that is very accessible without being simplistic..."I have been confused about some of the terminology, and there is quite a lot of breaking down of lists, terms, like a scientific text, almost a taxonomy.
But I do love the vivid examples Irene, and I completely agree with you that those parts are sometimes wonderfully clear. I love the example on page 88 of the child that can't reach the remedy on the mantelpiece and the mother lifting up the child so that the child can take hold of it himself/herself.
A beautiful demonstration of what Nault later recaps as: "Left to our own devices, we can do nothing. But if we do what we can, God will catch hold of us and will lead us to beatitude." I like that!
There were a few other examples like that earlier in the chapter that not only clarified Aquinus' ideas for me but also helped me to understand how I might apply some of these concepts to my religious life.
Kerstin wrote: "I think the key to chapter 2 found with Aquinas's "Circular Movement of Love."In essence what I got from it is this:
God pours his love out to us. We receive it, accept it, react to it, and act u..."
I love your way of putting this Kerstin; I think so, definitely!
Susie wrote: "I was having the same issue, sort of...when I looked up the definition of 'beatitude', it said, 'supreme blessedness'. If I substitute that for the word beatitude...it makes much more sense to me i..."Susie, that helped me too!
I was also thinking, on page 69, Nault says:
"God willed that the communicato, the thing in common between him and man, should be beatitude, in other words, participation in his own life."
The first "him" seems to refer to God. Assuming the "his" refers to God too, maybe by "beatitude" Nault also means that joyous relationship with God where God "participates" in our human life and in a way we participate in His life too? That certainly would be a "supreme blessedness"! :)
My understanding of these concepts are very difficult to convey through simple language but your take, Greg, about page 69, matches mine pretty close. I think the key lies in our commitment to want to participate with Him, that we must be active seekers and at the same time be always open to Him...when that matches up, we get 'supreme blessedness' like an electrical connection. Not the best imagery but the best I can come up with right now... :)
I knew you would add some great thoughts to the group!
Susie wrote: "My understanding of these concepts are very difficult to convey through simple language but your take, Greg, about page 69, matches mine pretty close. I think the key lies in our commitment to wan..."
Thanks so much Susie! :) And I love your description; it helped me to visualize this better!
