Acedia & Me Quotes

“For grace to be grace, it must give us things we didn't know we needed and take us places where we didn't know we didn't want to go. As we stumble through the crazily altered landscape of our lives, we find that God is enjoying our attention as never before. ”
― Kathleen Norris, Acedia & Me: A Marriage, Monks, and a Writer's Life

“The very nature of marriage means saying yes before you know what it will cost. Though you may say the “I do” of the wedding ritual in all sincerity, it is the testing of that vow over time that makes you married.”
― Kathleen Norris, Acedia & Me: A Marriage, Monks, and a Writer's Life

“But hope has an astonishing resilience and strength. Its very persistence in our hearts indicates that it is not a tonic for wishful thinkers but the ground on which realists stand.”
― Kathleen Norris, Acedia & Me: A Marriage, Monks, and a Writer's Life

“Might we consider boredom as not only necessary for our life but also as one of its greatest blessings? A gift, pure and simple, a precious chance to be alone with our thoughts and alone with God?”
― Kathleen Norris, Acedia & Me: A Marriage, Monks, and a Writer's Life

“Like faith, marriage is a mystery. The person you’re committed to spending your life with is known and yet unknown, at the same time remarkably intimate and necessarily other. The classic seven-year itch may not be a case of familiarity breeding ennui and contempt, but the shock of having someone you thought you knew all too well suddenly seem a stranger. When that happens, you are compelled to either recommit to the relationship or get the hell out. There are many such times in a marriage.”
― Kathleen Norris, Acedia & Me: A Marriage, Monks, and a Writer's Life

“Because we are made in God's image, in fleeing from a relationship with a loving God, we are also running from being our most authentic selves.”
― Kathleen Norris, Acedia & Me: A Marriage, Monks, and a Writer's Life

“…religious traditions build up meaning only over time and in a communal context. They can’t be purchased like a burger or a pair of shoes.”
― Kathleen Norris, Acedia & Me: A Marriage, Monks, and a Writer's Life

“Most anyone who has endeavored to maintain the habit of prayer, or making art, or regular exercise...knows the syndrome well. When I sit down to pray or write, a host of thoughts arise. I should call to find out how so-and-so is doing. I should dust and organize my desk, because I will get more work done in a neater space. While I'm at it, I might as well load and start the washing machine. I may truly desire to write, but as I am pulled to one task after another I lose the ability to concentrate on the work at hand. Any activity, even scrubbing the toilet, seems more compelling than sitting down to face the blank page.”
― Kathleen Norris, Acedia & Me: A Marriage, Monks, and a Writer's Life

“Acedia is not a relic of the fourth century or a hang-up of some weird Christian monks, but a force we ignore at our peril. Whenever we focus on the foibles of celebrities to the detriment of learning more about the real world- the emergence of fundamentalist religious and nationalist movements, the economic factors endangering our reefs and rain forests, the social and ecological damage caused by factory farming - acedia is at work. Wherever we run to escape it, acedia is there, propelling us to 'the next best thing,' another paradise to revel in and wantonly destroy. It also sends us backward, prettying the past with the gloss of nostalgia. Acedia has come so far with us that it easily attached to our hectic and overburdened schedules. We appear to be anything but slothful, yet that is exactly what we are, as we do more and care less, and feel pressured to do still more.”
― Kathleen Norris, Acedia & Me: A Marriage, Monks, and a Writer's Life

“The concept of sin does not exist so that people who may need therapy more than theology can be convinced that they are evil and beyond hope. It is meant to encourage people to believe that they are made in the image of God and to act accordingly. Hope is the heart of it, and the ever-present possibility of transformation.”
― Kathleen Norris, Acedia & me: A Marriage, Monks, and a Writer's Life

“was heartened by her assertion that “most people come”
― Kathleen Norris, Acedia & me: A Marriage, Monks, and a Writer's Life

“I have found therapy to be of limited usefulness, constrained in ways that religion is not, because it consistently falls short of mystery, by which I mean a profound simplicity that allows for paradox and poetry. In therapy I am likely to be searching for explanations, causes, and definitions, information that will help me change my behavior in healthful ways. But wisdom is the goal of spiritual seeking, and it is religion's true home.”
― Kathleen Norris, Acedia & Me: A Marriage, Monks, and a Writer's Life