Sin or sickness?

Christian Century, March 8, 2003

KATHLEEN NORRIS sets up an unhelpful polarity ("Plain old sloth," Jan. 11). In talking about each day belonging to the Lord, she says, "To the person of faith, this is heaven; to one mired in sloth, it is hell." The implication is that if she had faith, or more faith, she wouldn't have experienced an inability to concentrate on serious matters or felt so soul-weary. Such a contrasting of faith with an experience which might well be depression compounds the problem. For me the most helpful way to view such soul-weariness has been to hold fast to the progression proclaimed by Paul in Romans 5:3-5 that suffering produces endurance and endurance produces character and character produces hope, which does not disappoint us because of God's pure love poured into our hearts.

I give thanks for the hope to which Norris testifies, a hope which even the darkest of depression or sloth cannot overcome.

Torrey Curtis
Weatherford, Okla.

Kathleen Norris's piece about sloth is an admirable sharing of an intimate struggle. Unfortunately, it also transforms a medical and psychological condition into a moral issue.

Norris does not use the word "depression." This surely is a conscious omission, an effort to frame her dark night of the soul in theological terms. I understand the goal. But I am concerned about the impact of this article on depressed people.

I worked for a dozen years as a therapist in a pastoral counseling center. Depression brought more people to me than any other disorder. Those troubled persons exhibited all the symptoms that Norris describes. Then they began to upbraid themselves for their sloth. They used other terms: laziness, worthlessness, sin. The more they defined their condition as a moral problem, the more depressed they became. "I am both useless and evil," was a message I heard over and over.

Norris has taken the same path. She has reframed a psychological-medical condition as a moral issue. Yes, in retrospect, she may be able to see how God was working even when she could see no light. But those who remain mired in that dungeon need to know that they are not guilty of one of the seven deadly sins. They are depressed. Norris's public sharing can be effective only if she gives this demon its proper name. Correctly identifying the place from which she started will allow her to chart the spiritual paths by which she and others can move from darkness to light.

A. J. (Jack) Good
Roanoke, Va.

On reading Kathleen Norris's "case of soul-weariness," one has to wonder whether someone who has "churned out" at least four books in ten years and has an ailing husband for whom she cares and a father who has died in the past year isn't entitled to numbness, weariness, dread of daylight and the "callous waste of time" in recovery. What does Norris's worry about her sloth say to those of us whose plight and productivity is less and who still succumb to periods of withdrawal and despair? Must Christian culture join a popular culture that forbids the sometimes unavoidable waste of time and even refusal of joy that comes with life's natural rhythms?

Bonnie J. Miller-Mclemore
Nashville, Tenn.

Kathleen Norris replies:

I AM GRATEFUL to all three writers for their thoughtful letters, and apologize for my failure to mention depression in the context of sloth. As I reworked my speech into an article, this obvious omission escaped my notice. The tricky relationship between acedia (a temptation that can be resisted) and depression (an illness that can be treated) will be a major theme of my book.

Bonnie Miller-Mclemore's comments reflect another theme I am exploring: how sloth is the opposite of rest and relaxation, and prevents us from enjoying a guilt-free, holy leisure.