Sloth....

No, this isn’t about some furry critter that lives in trees.

Sloth is the avoidance of physical or spiritual work.

In case you haven’t noticed, it has been a while since I have posted anything.
Well, last weekend’s message at church was about Sloth.
Sloth basically means “Lazy”. It sounded like a good idea, so I thought I’d try it out.

I could make a whole list of excuses as to why I haven’t blogged for awhile, but as a wise man once said, “Excuses only sound good to those who make them”.

Basically, like most people these days, I have been rather busy. I have learned a lot this past week. One thing I discovered is that you can be really, really busy – always on the go – and still be lazy.

Take these guys for example……

Apparently, they were so busy trying to get the job done that they were too lazy to make sure the job was done correctly. That’s sloth.




I can’t begin to tell you how many times I started a particular task, got side-tracked, and didn’t complete the task. Oh I was busy, I just got so busy doing other things that I forgot all about the original task.

Laziness isn’t just sitting on the couch watching TV. I did some of that this week too.
Even though, I was busy spending time with my son. It rained a lot last weekend so I didn’t get to spend much time outside doing yard work. I actually enjoy taking care of my lawn and doing those “manly” things around the house. I like it when I can make things work properly or help God make things grow. Even the baby trees I planted a couple of months ago are beginning to grow branches and little leaves. When I first planted them, my wife said, “Honey, you just planted a stick”. Well, those sticks are alive and growing (well, most of them, anyway).

Oops, there I go getting off track again. Is that called sloth? I dunno. Maybe.

We can be lazy with our kids too. What we may determine to be unacceptable behavior one day may be allowed to slide another day simply because we are too tired to deal with it. That is being inconsistent. That is sloth.

“But I was busy!”

Ummmm….yeah. Sure.

I have a friend, whom I strongly admire, who has a t-shirt that says “Get Busy”. I like that. It reminds me that we should get off the couch and do something.
Stop talking and start doing.
Stop thinking about accomplishing great things and take action.
I think it was Ben Franklin who said, “Some people dream of great accomplishments, while others stay awake and do them”.

In other words - Don't be lazy!

Sometimes the busiest people are the ones who are actually the lazy ones. I guess it’s all in how we spend our time. People get so busy sometimes, but doing what? I’ve seen a lot of people make themselves too busy to accomplish a task they were really supposed to be doing in the first place. I’ve done this a lot myself. I’ve gotten so busy doing other things that I didn’t have time for the original task. Those other things weren’t very important, but they kept me busy enough to neglect the important things. That’s sloth, too.

I read recently about a woman who was charged with watching school children swim. Her job was that of a “swim teacher” and she was supposed to keep an eye on the kids while they were swimming. However, she was too busy doing other work to keep an eye on the kids. You can read more of the story here. So, is it an example of “lazy”, or “sloth”? Or both??

But, all that sidetracking because I have been lazy. No excuses, I just got busy doing other things. Of course, everything I do is extremely important because I really am that awesome.

So, here’s what’s been going on in the life of Alpha Dude…….

My darling wife Patch (Good Lord, she hates that name), is doing well. In eleven more days she will go back in for the surgery to have her eye reopened. She’s really looking forward to that. I must say that if it were me having my eye sewn shut, I would behave quite differently than she has been.
I wore contact lenses for over 25 years, and whenever one of them got dirty or my eye got annoyingly irritated, my disposition changed for the worse. But this is one of those things that makes Patch so wonderful. She has told me that her eye is irritated (it itched a lot while healing), she’s told me how annoying and frustrating it is not being able to see out of that eye. She feels self-conscious about how she looks and thinks everyone is staring at her. Yet all the while, she is sweet, kind and loving. She truly is amazing and pure joy to be around.

My son is loving it here. He gets bored sometimes, since he hasn’t had much time to meet people yet. He likes our church and has met most of our friends, and they all have enjoyed meeting him. He’s a great guy and a fine young man. He greeted each of my friends with a firm handshake and called them “sir”. You just don’t see that in many 19 year olds these days.
I do believe that his “give-a-crap” is healing nicely. He’s also thankful that he has a real bed to sleep in and it is in his own room and it is in the house.

This took me all day to write. I’ve been rather busy at work these days.
Not sure if that is lazy, or sloth. Or just an excuse.
Either way, I am tired so I think I'll just go home and sit on the couch in front of the TV.

Blessings.


Lazy hands make a man poor, but diligent hands bring wealth.
Proverbs 10:4