July 22, 2010

Elder Sophrony: 'All Humanity in a State of Accidie'

 
The word accidie means etymologically, 'lack of care', ie. about one's salvation. With few exceptions, all humanity is now living in a state of accidie. People have become indifferent about their salvation. They do not seek divine life. They confine themselves to forms of life which appertain to the flesh, to everyday needs, to the passions of this world, to mundane activities. God, though, created us out of nothing, in the image of the Absolute and after His likeness. If this revelation is true, then the absence of concern for salvation is nothing else than the death of the human person. 
 
- Elder Sophrony of Essex