Boredom

Preached on 05-14-00

BOREDOM

A Sermon by the Rev. Patrick A. Rose

"And Jacob served seven years for Rachel, and they were in his eyes as a few days, for the love he had to her." (Gen. 29:20)

THIS MORNING WE WOULD CONSIDER something we have all experienced at times -- something that is very common, very ordinary -- and something which destroys happiness and delight and makes us feel miserable, sometimes very miserable indeed. Our subject this morning is boredom.

When somebody is bored, the whole process of life seems to weigh that person down. Indeed even time itself becomes a burden. Five minutes can seem a long while. An hour can be unbearable. A whole day can seem like eternity. And if this boredom becomes chronic -- if it continues over a period of days, weeks, or even months, then life becomes miserable and wretched. Someone who is chronically bored is tired of life, and this tiredness can go very deep indeed.

Hopefully none of us are completely and chronically overwhelmed by boredom to this degree. Nevertheless, most people do go through periods when they seem to lack any zest or enthusiasm for life -- periods when the days, weeks and even months seem to drag on and on. When this happens to us, it is all too easy for us to place the blame on external circumstances. We blame all kinds of things -- our jobs, the fact that we don't get out enough, perhaps even the weather. Such things can, obviously, contribute to a sense of tedium, but -- and this is important -- the principal cause usually does not lie in the world around us, but originates from within.

Boredom and tedium originate from a lack of love, and with this, a lack of affection. This is, of course, one of the lessons of our text. Jacob was a man in love. Because of this, he gladly served seven whole years working for Rachel's father, Laban, in order that he might obtain her hand in marriage. Jacob didn't mind serving for so long. He loved Rachel so much that he would do anything for her. And so great was his love that the long time he served seemed as nothing to him -- it was something he undertook gladly in order to win the hand of the woman he loved.

We are, of course, all aware of the relationship between love and the passage of time. When we love what we are doing, time rushes by. When, though, we have no love at all for what is required of us, then every hour can seem like an eternity.

We may wonder, though, why it was that Jacob's love for Rachel made the time go so quickly. We might have expected just the opposite. He loved Rachel. He wanted to marry her. Surely in these circumstances the very fact that he loved her, would have made those seven years seem long, rather than short -- as he waited and waited and waited for the time when he could marry her. The answer must lie, of course, in the way Jacob viewed these years of service. It should be noted that these years of work were not something Laban had demanded of Jacob. On the contrary, they were something that Jacob himself had offered to do for Laban, in order to earn the hand of his daughter. Obviously Jacob did not view the time he had to serve as an obstacle standing between himself and his marriage to Rachel, but rather as the very means by which he might win her. And so he loved and enjoyed what he was doing, for to him it was the means of attaining what he desired. This is why the time passed so quickly. If, on the other hand, he had viewed this work as an irritating obstacle to be overcome, the time would have gone very slowly indeed.

Herein lies the key to understanding why it is that we are sometimes bored and weighted down with tedium, and yet at other times are enthusiastic, and oblivious to the passage of time. It depends upon the nature of our love, and upon whether or not it is weighted down and frustrated by external circumstances. Tedium is felt only when a person's mind is so weighted down that it focusses on external things.

We are of course all aware that time is an attribute of the natural world. In the spiritual world there is nothing of time, at least in the sense of fixed, regular time. Now, when we talk about the absence of time in the spiritual world, we are not just talking about a world we shall go to after we die. It is, in fact, a world we already live in. Our minds, which are our spirits, are already in the spiritual world. At the same time, because we are living within physical bodies in the natural world, our minds are also, in another sense, in the natural world. And so we are in both worlds at the same time. The higher parts of our minds are completely and fully in the spiritual world. Our lower minds, though, are focussed more on events in this world. Now, because the higher or deeper parts of our minds are in the other world, they are free from any real sense of time. This is why, when a person is doing what he loves, he scarcely reflects upon the passage of time. Love resides in the internal man -- it is in the spiritual world -- and love, in itself, knows no such thing as time. If, on the other hand, external events frustrate this love, or if our love is not strong nor patient enough to abide delay, our thoughts are turned outwards to the limitations of the natural world, and we reflect and become acutely conscious of the passage of time. As we read in the Arcana: "The reason why time appears to be something is that we reflect upon things that do not belong to the affection or love, thus which are tedious." (AC 3827).

This is, of course, a matter of common experience. In itself, or by itself, the human mind is above time. When someone is deep in thought, or when he is daydreaming or sleeping, he is lost to the world, and oblivious to time. So also, when he loves what he is doing. When, though, he is faced with something he doesn't like, he becomes keenly aware of the passing minutes.

The answer to boredom, though, is not always easy to see. We become bored when our minds descend downwards and outwards to the world, and when we lack the love and affection to lift us above a sense of tedium. The crucial question though, is what it is that makes our minds descend in this way. As we have already mentioned, we tend to lay the blame on external circumstances. We are bored because the things that happen to us are not interesting. We are bored because every day is the same. We are bored because we never go anywhere different. Such external things do indeed contribute to a sense of tedium. Certainly it can at times be useful to get away -- take a vacation, or take up a new hobby, or try doing familiar things a little differently. But such changes won't really help by themselves if, as is so often the case, the principle cause lies within ourselves, and with our spiritual associations.

Though we are not consciously aware of their presence, we are constantly surrounded by various spirits. Our moods, our emotions, and the states we undergo, are the result of the influx -- that is, the influence -- of these spirits. External circumstances can indeed affect our feelings. The feelings themselves, though, come from the spiritual world.

This is something that it is important to know. Boredom, lethargy, and tedium, are not merely unpleasant feelings. They attack the very life of a person, causing his love -- his zest for life -- to grow cold and tired, as his mind descends and becomes weighted down by the things of this world. Such feelings, such states, can do grievous damage in some of the most important areas of life.

We would mention three such areas -- three ways in which boredom can really hurt us. First of all, boredom is a severe obstacle to our spiritual development. It is, if we reflect upon it, a strange and also sad fact that many people get easily bored by spiritual subjects. Sometimes people who can read a 500-page novel in one or two days find it a tiresome chore to read only two to three pages of the Word. The subjects spoken of by the Writings they find boring, and they find it difficult to concentrate when the doctrines are being discussed. And so they allow other things to take precedence, and they fail to carry out what are, after all, their spiritual duties. It is easy to blame external circumstances. They can always find excuses. Some excuses are valid. All too often, though, the underlying problem is not an external one at all. The essential cause lies in the fact that they are, quite simply, not interested in spiritual things.

From heredity all of us, by nature, tend to lack interest in spiritual things. Yet it is not just heredity which can make us feel bored with what is spiritual. It is also the influence of spirits. The Writings describe certain spirits who, when they flowed in, produced a feeling of tedium and cold whenever things from the Word were involved (SD 2570).

A second vital area of life which can be affected by tedium is our life of use. Someone who feels bored and unenthusiastic about life tends to be ineffective in his work. Boredom produces a feeling of lethargy. It saps a person's energy. Of course all of us, from heredity, have varying tendencies towards laziness. This hereditary tendency, though, gains a stronger hold over us through the influence of certain evil spirits whose particular curse is to fill our minds with tedium and our bodies with fatigue. The Writings describe certain spirits whose influence fills the mind with weariness and impatience, and even affects the physical body (AC 5721).

A third most important area of life which can be harmed by boredom is that of marriage. Indeed, the book Conjugial Love deals at some length with the way in which lack of love for one's married partner can produce boredom, tedium, and, eventually, loathing. Of course, once again, it is of heredity for a man to have a tendency to desire more than one woman -- to lust after a variety of women. This hereditary tendency, though, is strengthened by the influx of evil spirits. It is to be noted that those spirits who had been adulterers in this world, and have had filthy minds, are especially capable of inducing a sense of tedium and lethargy when they are around a man (AC 5722).

In each of these vital areas of life, boredom, and a sense of tedium, can be terribly destructive. Boredom does not simply produce the unpleasant sensation of time going much too slowly. It can also harm our spiritual development, interfere with the performance of our uses, and do grievous damage to conjugial love. It is thus very important indeed to know how to deal with, and cure, a state of boredom.

Now the traditional advice for someone who feels bored is to tell him to get up and do something. This is what we tell children to do when they say they are bored. It is wise advice. The feeling of boredom comes from the spiritual world, and the activity of use -- making ourselves do something constructive -- is a powerful ultimate -- something capable of changing our spiritual associations. Evil spirits cannot abide being present with someone who is enjoying being useful to others. So it is that, very often, doing something useful is sufficient to drive away a temporary feeling of tedium and tiredness. If, though, our problem, goes deeper, if our whole outlook on life tends to be unenthusiastic, then we must seek the solution, not simply in doing some useful activity, but in being useful in the deepest sense of the word.

Use, in its deepest and widest sense, is at the very heart of the story of Jacob's love for Rachel. To be useful involves doing our jobs faithfully and well -- a faithfulness portrayed in the literal sense by Jacob's seven years of service to Laban. Jacob looked after Laban's animals. It was very hard work indeed, protecting the flock. Jacob later described the work by saying: "in the day the drought consumed me, and the frost by night; and my sleep departed from my eyes" (Gen. 31:40).

To be truly useful we must work hard. We must also, though, do something else. To learn and reflect upon spiritual things is essential if we are to be truly useful, for only then can the spirit of use, a spirit of good will and charity, be formed by the Lord in our hearts. And, in the spiritual sense, Jacob's labors stand for spiritual study, which a person does when he or she desires spiritual truth, spiritual truth which is represented by Rachel.

There is also another thing a man must do if he is to be useful. He must love his wife. Marriage, when rightly understood, is seen to be the highest use of all. Here is our opportunity to make another human being happy, and, at the same time, foster a sphere within the home which will extend beyond the home and benefit society as a whole. It is obvious, even from the literal sense, that the internal sense of the story of Jacob and Rachel treats also of conjugial love. It is, after all, a story of love between a man and his beloved.

The only answer, the only fundamental cure, for chronic boredom lies in the changing of those spirits which are obsessing us -- getting rid of these spirits by means of the sphere of a life of use, and use in the fullest sense. We must concentrate on all the ways in which we can come to be of use. We must do our work well and carry out faithfully whatever duties we may be given. We must also carry out our spiritual duties. We must force ourselves to read the Word, if this is the only way we can bring ourselves to read it. In time we will find that this reading will become our greatest source of strength, inspiration and enthusiasm. And, if we be married, let us not forget our wife or husband. To tell someone to shun, as a sin against God Himself, adulterous thoughts and feelings, and to cleave to his wife, dedicating himself to her happiness -- this might sound a strange antidote for boredom. And yet, in the whole universe, there is nothing which drags the mind down further, which makes the heart colder, and which fills the mind with more tedium and loathing, than adulterous and filthy thoughts. On the other hand, there is nothing like marriage, a marriage marked by love, caring, and dedication to one another -- there is nothing more potent than this for filling the heart and the soul with zest, with enthusiasm, and with life.

Whatever our position in life, and whether or not we feel excessively bored, we can all gain by focussing more and more upon a full life of use. If we are married, there is certainly more that we could do to bring happiness to the one we love. If we are working, we can strive to do our work more effectively, and more faithfully. And each one of us can read and meditate upon the Word of God, drawing from it guidance and strength as we walk along the path of life, and so learn more and better ways of bringing happiness to others. Then time will no longer go slowly. We will experience boredom less and less, as we dedicate each day -- each and every day -- to a life of glory to God, and of service to our fellow human beings.

Amen.

Lessons: Gen. 29:1-20; AC 3827