What grows in weary lands by Trish Harrison warren
Week 3: Chapter 2 — The Sin of Acedia
Read Chapter 2 of What Grows in Weary Lands by Tish Harrison Warren.
Previewing Week 3 of What grows in weary lands
Read 3 of 9 discussion questions below. Unlock the complete 10-week guide when you’re ready.
Warren introduces one of the most illuminating — and largely forgotten — concepts in the Christian moral tradition: acedia, the 'noonday demon' that the Desert Fathers feared more than almost any other spiritual danger.
Discussion Questions
9 questions1.Warren introduces acedia as something far more specific than laziness or depression — it is a restless inability to stay present, a rejection of the particular life you have been given. How would you describe acedia in your own words, now that you've read the chapter? What makes it different from simple tiredness or sadness?
2.The Desert Fathers called acedia the 'noonday demon' (referencing Psalm 91:6) — it struck monks hardest in the middle of the day, in the middle of their lives, when the initial fervor of commitment had cooled and the finish line was not yet in sight. Where in your own life do you recognize that 'noonday' quality — the middle place where enthusiasm has faded but completion is still far off?
3.Evagrius Ponticus, the fourth-century monk who gave the most precise account of acedia, described it as making the monk's cell feel intolerable and the world outside irresistibly attractive. Warren connects this to the modern habit of constant distraction — the phone, the scroll, the endless queue of content. How convincing do you find that connection? In what ways does your own distraction behavior resemble what Evagrius was describing?