Rev. Reed Lee Pedersen's
Seven Deadly Sins – Week 3
Glutton and Sloth In order to get through all the deadly sins during our Wednesdays in Lent we had to have one week where we discussed two deadly sins at the same time. I chose to pair Gluttony and Sloth together for two reasons. (1) They have a lot in common. (2) I believe both of them are the most common and longest running sins I commit from week to week (more like day to day!). I have been a glutton every since I was taught to have pride in finishing my plate of food. I have practiced laziness ever since my brother got a Playstation for his birthday. Below I have questions I’d like you to consider. Please call or sit with someone to talk through these questions together. If you scroll down far enough, you will get to my answers and conclusion on the topic. Gluttony: The excessive desire to consume
Sloth(Laziness): The desire to do, feel, and/or know nothing.
Gluttony and Sloth:
My Thoughts – Gluttony (1) Our country is getting fatter and fatter every year. Almost 40% percent of Americans today are obese. I think it is safe to say gluttony is the most practiced deadly sin in the United States. (2) Anything that can be consumed by a person can result in someone acting in gluttonous behavior. This is more than just food. One of gluttony’s effects is addiction. People have their different addictions. There are people addicted to smoking, drugs, caffeine, exercise (yes that too!), alcohol, phones, devices, television, streaming services, social media, and even food. (3) Mentally we receive food as a reward. It’s a biological response for our brains to positively reward our eating so as to push the body to continue to seek satiation. This is a wonderful thing to have as hunters and gatherers, but we live in a time where food is more readily available. We do not have to track down a herd of deer in order to eat that week. Instead we can drive to the grocery store and stock up on copious amounts of items that are both good and bad for us (unless those supplies are toilet paper and hand sanitizer, but that’s the realm of GREED). The point of saying all this is to show that I believe consistent unhealthy eating is a form of gluttony. It is our bodies wanting to feel happy with the goodies that touch our tongue rather than taking the mental steps to understand that we are stewards of our bodies. We are called to take care of them. (4) For gluttony-of-food’s sake, many people die prematurely and go through health problems because they give into a life of bad eating and unhealthy diet. For addiction’s sake, countless people do a lot of harm to themselves in others when caught into the spiral of addiction. It is something that consumes us rather than the other way around. In doing so, it limits our ability to love God and others because it fixates us on that addiction. (5) The traditional name for the virtue to combat gluttony is temperance. Temperance be known in two different ways: moderation or self-denial. Moderation, the ability to have just enough of what you need and not over consume, is a wonderful way to consciously not fall into the pits of gluttony. An example of moderation is to set a time limit on how long you will be on your phone. Another example is setting aside only one “cheat” meal a week while staying relatively healthy the rest of the week. Self-denial is a way of removing the addiction or problem area from your life temporarily or altogether. This is where the spiritual practice of fasting comes in. Fasting is the spiritual practice of removing something from your diet or life. This is a prayerful opportunity to really self-reflect and pray to God as you cut off that problem area in your life. Another spiritual practice when it comes to our addiction to technology is the spiritual practice of simplicity. This would be taking a week or month to live as simply as possible, no tv, limited internet, limited clothing selection, and limited food choices. We then feel relief by taking away the plentiful options we normally have. My Thoughts – Sloth (Laziness) (1) I believe it is the second most practiced sin and the sixth most dangerous sin. (2) “Vegging Out” watching television is what comes most to mind. (3) I believe productive laziness can exist. This would be cleaning the house when you are supposed to call someone on the phone. It is a sort of evasion technique some people do. I think a lot of people in my generation and younger watch streaming services like Netflix or stare are a screen to feed our temptation of sloth. I am also reminded of a comedy bit of John Mulaney in which he speaks the truth that adults love nothing more than a weekend when they didn’t have to do anything. (4) Connected also to being hunters and gatherers, it is believed that our brains are built to want to rest so that we would not burn too many calories when looking for the next meal. For today Sloth, or laziness, is really an escape technique from living life. Someone constantly trying to escape living has no time to care, to act, to love, or really take the time to believe in something. That’s a scary proposition to think about in terms of our relationship to God. Our temptation to be idle keeps us from loving God and loving our neighbors. (5) The traditional name of the virtue to combat sloth is zeal. I think this can be better understood as passion or eagerness. Passion for God, neighbor, and life. Eagerness to take the opportunities given to you in the world to share time and attention to God and neighbor. Not always finding an excuse to say no to an invitation or avoid seeing people, instead saying yes to any opportunity to interact with our world and the people in it. In our current physical restrictions due to COVID-19 this means calling up friends, family, and neighbors since we cannot always see them face to face. My thoughts – Gluttony and Sloth (1) I sometimes feel that gluttony and sloth are like the chicken and the egg. I find myself overeating and doing nothing, but I do not know if it’s the inactivity that led to the overeating or the overeating that led to an engorged stomach that doesn’t want to get around. Every day I fight the urge to be lazy and the urge to stop at Casey’s at 3:00 pm to cash in on the free 32 oz. soda if I get two slices of pizza. (2) I believe the picture perfectly shows how you can commit two sins at the same time. “vegging out” while binging shows and food is killing two birds with one stone. Unfortunately, those two birds are your drive and body. Closing Thoughts: I do realize that I am writing this while sitting next to a bag of Sour Patch Kids. I am reminded that it is not so easy for everyone to be active and healthy. The struggle against these two sins is real and very relatable. Perhaps through the application of fighting these two sins and asking forgiveness when we stray we can better apply what it means to combat evil and the devil in our world today.
1 Comment
Gordon Rehn
3/18/2020 09:29:57 pm
Seems to me, a “workaholic” might be psychological example of gluttony & productive sloth. Gluttony as an overindulgence of time to complete a work task, and productive sloth in devoting so much time to the job vs family time. The workaholic syndrome has been common in business at a cost of an individual’s quality of life.
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AuthorPastor Reed is a first call pastor at Augustana Lutheran Church in Andover, Illinois. Archives
July 2019
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