CONTEMPLATIVE PRACTICE: Wresting with Boredom

When it comes to living out what it means to be human, each of us must face the consequences of being bored with life, with spouse and family, with the job, with the church, with trying to find out those activities in life that keep us interested. I guess my first recollection of boredom comes from watching my own family over the years as they face the daunting challenge of remaining Roman Catholic. The Church Universal, the Body of Christ, can never leave any individual, but each person can drift away from their center because they are just too lazy to do what it takes to sustain the Mystery of Faith in their life view. https://www.encyclopedia.com/philosophy-and-religion/philosophy/philosophy-terms-and-concepts/worldview-philosophy)

As a Lay Cistercian trying to seek God everyday in every way (The Christ Principle), boredom is a reality that is like the elephant in the room. It is there, I can feel it, I sometimes buy into it. It takes a conscious act of my will NOT to succumb to the temptation to consider what I am doing at this particular moment as being without meaning and somehow not linked to the totality of my world view i.e., have in you the mind of Christ Jesus. (Philippians 2:5) I believe that St. Benedict has such a center that he used when the temptations of repitition and sameness evoke feelings that what he was doing at the moment was in vain and meaningless. This is all the more evident in a Lay Cistercian-Cistercian-Benedictine approach to spirituality where everything you do, your purpose, what is meaningful is not of this world.

The world (secular thinking of fulfillment and happiness) thinks that being human is all about self, freedom to choose what you want that fulfills your sense of what is meaningful and finding what makes you happy before you die. The world scoffs at the kingdom of heaven as being a fairy tale, like the tooth fairy, or some Action Hero comic book. It doesn’t make sense. To which, I reply, it makes absolutely no sense in you hold there is no Christ Principle.

Boredom is one of those human tendencies that just happen as a result of being human. We, humans, get antsy when we must do something over and over, seemingly with no terminal purpose in mind. So, how do those same humans with all the tendencies of Original Sin stay focused on something as arcane as attending Divine Office five times a day in common, day after day, with the only meaning coming from moving away from the false self to a true self? The struggle comes in making all things new each day. I must admit, in my own case, it is a daily struggle to keep my mind focused on the source of my spiritual energy, the Holy Spirit, and my ultimate world view, to be happy, not necessarily in this life, but in the life to come with Christ.

This spiritual boredom is a crack in our resolve to “prefer nothing to the love of Christ,” as St. Benedict sets forth in the tools for good works, Chapter 4 of his Rule.

Chapter 4: The Tools for Good Works

1 First of all, love the Lord God with your whole heart, your wholesoul and all your strength, 2 and love your neighbor as yourself (Matt 22:37-39; Mark 12:30-31; Luke 10:27).

3 Then the following: You are not to kill,
4 not to commit adultery;
5 you are not to steal
6 nor to covet (Rom 13:9);
7 you are not to bear false witness (Matt 19:18; Mark 10:19; Luke 18:20).
8 You must honor everyone (1 Pet 2:17),
9 and never do to another what you do not want done to yourself (Tob 4:16; Matt 7:12; Luke 6:31).

10 Renounce yourself in order to follow Christ (Matt 16:24; Luke 9:23);
11 discipline your body (1 Cor 9:27);
12 do not pamper yourself,
13 but love fasting.
14 You must relieve the lot of the poor,
15 clothe the naked,
16 visit the sick (Matt 25:36),
17 and bury the dead.
18 Go to help the troubled
19 and console the sorrowing.

20 Your way of acting should be different from the world’s way;
21 the love of Christ must come before all else.

https://christdesert.org/prayer/rule-of-st-benedict/chapter-4-the-tools-for-good-works/

WHAT TO DO IF YOU ARE SPIRITUALLY BORED.

• I realize that each and every day, my purpose must be God’s and not my own.
• I must use humility to realize what is going on, as I attend Eucharist every day or as I can, and that this is not a ritual but God coming to say hello to an adopted son (or daughter). The energy of God is dynamic.
• There is no boredom in heaven because God is pure knowledge, pure love, and pure service.
• The fight against boredom is a struggle of my false self trying to seek its own level of satisfaction rather than doing what I must to maintain Christ as my center.
• By myself, without Faith, I am nothing. I can only flounder in my own self-delusions of who God is. Only the Christ Principle strips away the shoddy illusions of the world to reveal true reality.
• As soon as I realize what is going on with boredom (and sometimes that might take some time), I replace my lack of Faith with that of God’s energy in the Holy Spirit, then just wait. If I am a room, there is no room for boredom and making things new in Christ Jesus.
• Boredom comes from repetition in the secular world. It carries over into the spiritual world, and I must choose to banish it with the help of the Holy Spirit.

The next time you realize that you are bored, give thanks to God for allowing you to use the Holy Spirit to say “NO” to this temptation in favor of “YES” to the purpose of your world view.