In a recent episode of the Thomistic Institute Podcast, R. J. Snell, Director of Academic Programs at the Witherspoon Institute and Editor-in-Chief of Public Discourse, offers a penetrating meditation on one of the most misunderstood spiritual maladies of modern life: sloth.
Titled “The Terrible Covenant of Sloth: Boredom and the Resistance of Joy,” the lecture was delivered at New York University and confronts a phenomenon many students and professionals alike recognize: restlessness, distraction, anxiety, and a persistent sense of boredom amid abundance and opportunity.
As Dr. Snell explains, sloth is not simply laziness. Drawing from St. Thomas Aquinas and the broader Catholic intellectual tradition, he presents sloth as a deeper spiritual resistance, a sadness or aversion toward the highest good. It is not merely a failure to act, but a refusal of joy itself. In this light, contemporary busyness, achievement culture, and endless distraction can become symptoms of a more fundamental problem: an unwillingness to receive and respond to the good that calls us.
You can listen to the full episode of The Thomistic Institute Podcast here:
https://podcast.thomisticinstitute.org/the-terrible-covenant-of-sloth-boredom-and-the-resistance-of-joy-dr-rj-snell/
