The thirteenth step on St. John’s Ladder deals with TEDIUM. Tedium, as John defines it, is a paralysis of the soul, a slackness of the mind, a neglect of religious exercise, a hostility to vows taken. It is an approval of worldly things. It is a voice claiming that God has no mercy and no love for men and women. It is a laziness and weakness in prayer, an indifference to the requirement for obedience.

St. John has pointed out that the passions are not to be eliminated but, rather, redirected. Although way before his time in this thought, in more recent years psychologists have confirmed this approach set forth by St. John. Although many may find it difficult to understand, anger, envy, lust, hatred are not in themselves bad; properly directed and controlled, they can bring us closer to God. The only exception, John believes, is TEDIUM. This is the only passion, if it can be called a passion, that cannot be redirected or turned to good, because it is not so much a passion as an absence of passion.

What exactly is tedium? It is not mere laziness. It is not simply a physical passion. It is in fact a spiritual slothfulness and indifference. John astutely points out that this kind of laziness comes upon us only in the context of our spiritual life, and it can often take on the appearance of diligence, activity and busyness.

Simply put, tedium is putting spiritual life on the back burner and subjecting it to convenience. We simply do not consider it as important as other things. We do not often apply the same of urgency and priority to prayer and worship as we do to other things in life. And yet, when all is said and done, the only really important task in life is our personal salvation!