Lust

In today's world it is almost impossible to avoid lust.  With advertisements using sex appeal on every corner we are tempted with lust all of the time.  Lust is the excessive desire for one's own sexual pleasure.  Sexual desires are natural and are a good thing but they turn vicious when it becomes disordered and excessive and we desire the wrong things.  Sex is designed to bring two people together in union and also to make new human beings.  DeYoung says, "Proper use and enjoyment of our sexual nature should track the way sexual desire and its fulfillment can enhance our relationships with God and each other" (163).  Lust makes sexual pleasure only about one's self and not the relationship with the other person.  Lust takes the emotional part out of sex and makes it merely a physical act.  "Lust is a vice, then, because it does not honor the fullness of sex, and it alienates people from each other just when they are supposed to be experiencing intimate union," says DeYoung.  As human beings we need more than just physical pleasure, we also need spiritual pleasure.  Lust takes away the spiritual pleasure of sexual intercourse.  It leads us to have less respect for ourselves and others.  Lust is not only a physical expression, it also involves disordered sexual thoughts, fantasies, and desires.  DeYoung says there are many small things we can do to try to combat lust such as Internet filters, keeping jokes clean, wisely choose which movies and television shows we watch, and dress modestly.  These things can be helpful but the best advice, she says, is to have good friends.  She says, "Good friendships teach us how to respect one another, to offer appropriate physical affection, to appreciate and care for others without looking for something in return, to trust one another" (178).  There is a correct way to have sexual desires.  One of the last sentences of the chapter says, "Sexual desire that is rightly directed and ruled gives us eyes to see the beauty and goodness of our sexuality, and to experience the full pleasure of it virtuous expression" (179). 


Our discipline was to keep record of any advertisement we see that uses sex appeal for 24 hours.  I saw a couple advertisements for weight loss supplements on the Internet showing half-naked girls that were small and toned and guys that were muscular.  It made me realize how obsessed our culture is on the body image and sex.  We are exposed to temptations of lust everywhere we turn nowadays.

Gluttony

Gluttony is excessive pleasure in eating food.  It isn't just about how much we eat but also how much pleasure we take in eating.  Gluttony makes us lose our appreciation for food and our God that created it.  There are five forms of gluttony:  eating fastidiously, ravenously, excessively, sumptuously, and hastily.  Eating too fastidiously and too sumptuously regard what we eat.  Fastidious gluttons have a certain expectation of how they want their food and will do whatever it takes to get it that way.  These are the people that send their plates back to the kitchen several times in order to get their food just the way they want it.  Sumptuous gluttons excessively seek the pleasure of fullness from food.  These people eat food not only because it tastes good but also because they desire the satisfaction of being full.  We can all relate to the other three kinds of gluttony even more:  eating too hastily, too greedily, and too much.  DeYoung describes hasty eating as, "...putting in another bite before the last one is chewed and swallowed but also pinpoints the sneaky snacker..."(144).  An overeater eats past the point of fullness just for the satisfaction of another bite.  A greedy eater eats quickly so that he can go back for more of his favorite dishes.  These three types of gluttony regard how we eat.  Bottom line, the glutton eats because it satisfies their own pleasure.  When these desires for food become excessive we loose sight of the use God intended for them; we loose appreciation for food.  DeYoung says, "...keeping our desire for this pleasure in order is necessary for keeping our relationships to God and other people in order" (154).  She says that gluttony's remedy is fasting.  "By giving up certain foods for a time, and by not eating to satiety, we learn anew to appreciate and be content with simple foods" (155).  Fasting also increases our appetite for spiritual goods and makes us aware of our dependence on God (156). 


Our discipline was to skip lunch today.  I did skip lunch and I must say that I was surprised by what I learned from this.  I thought that by skipping lunch I would be just starving until dinner.  To my surprise I didn't feel that hungry until close to dinner time.  From this I learned that most of the time when I go to eat lunch I'm not even that hungry but I eat anyway.  At dinner I didn't seem to eat much more than I usually do but I felt hungry.  This taught me that I eat when I'm not really hungry and that I probably eat too much.  Also by reading the chapter, I found that I am guilty of almost all five of the types of gluttony.

Anger/Wrath

When we hear the word anger we automatically connect it with something bad but this isn't always the case.  Anger is only bad when it is pursued excessively or disordered, as with all of the capital vices.  Anger is good when it is a passion for justice and motivated by love of others.  DeYoung says, "The goal of restraining anger is to keep reason's judgment clear" (121).  She says that anger turns vicious when it fights for its own selfish cause and not for justice.  Angry people think that everything should go their way and when it doesn't they find it unbearable.  On page 122 DeYoung says, "... Good anger depends on a rightful sense of what is 'due'..."  People get angry in different ways.  Aquinas says breaks down wrath's expressions in three categories:  we get angry too easily, we can get angrier than we should, and we can stay angry too long (124).  The Bible speaks of God's anger.  God burns with anger because he loves us and when we do not do him or ourselves justice he is angered.  We always have more anger when someone/something we love is involved.  God's anger reflects how our anger should be.  Psalms 103:8 says, "The Lord is merciful and gracious, ,slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love."  We should keep our anger under control and trust that God's will be done and not our own.  We get angry when our own will goes wrong and we think we have to power to fix things but we don't; we must trust in God's will.  "Our bad anger thus shows us to be trying - and failing - to be God" (134).  Anger is connected to our love for ourselves.  When we get embarrassed our pride is hurt and we get angry because we are being exposed.  DeYoung says, "... The tendency to get angry, or overly angry, seems rooted in vulnerability and fear" (133).  She says that dealing with this vice requires us to have realistic expectations and not be fragile.  What really helps is humor, which is the opposite of wrath's reaction.  To unlearn wrath we must change our hearts, priorities, and vision.  Gentleness is a great power against wrath.  Gentleness imitates Christ's character.  We can get this gentleness and humility from trusting God's power and will.


Our discipline associated with this chapter was to sincerely apologize we've offended and forgive someone who has offended us.  This discipline helped me to look at why I got angry at someone and why someone else got angry at me.  Looking back on the situations, in the case where I apologized I realized that I should not have gotten that angry over it and it should not have escaladed that quickly.  In the situation where I forgave, we realized that the person should have never gotten angry in the first place.  The discipline opened my eyes to how quickly I can get angry sometimes and motivated me to change my views on some things.

Avarice

I had never heard of the term avarice before this class.  Now that I know what it means I can relate to it.  This vice is one that consumes many peoples lives and can be very destructive.  Avarice, or greed as we usually know it, is the want and reliance of material possessions and not relying on the good and happiness that God gives us.  We develop this vice from habit.  Avaricious people are attached to money and the happiness they get from buying things.  We should more like liberal people who are defined by their detachment to money and goods.  We should enjoy giving things away and we shouldn't only give away things that we don't like or need anymore.  DeYoung says, "Avarice is not just about having more; it's about what is mine" (104).  I think this is one of the reasons we don't usually like giving things away because we have worked for it or earned it and this makes it hard to just give away sometimes.  But we should have such trust and dependence on God that we do not have to worry about what we have.  DeYoung does mention that we should make sure that we have enough for ourselves and those close to us.  An avaricious person's life is centered around their possessions.  DeYoung says, "Our possessions are meant to serve our needs and our humanness, rather than our lives being centered around service to our possessions and our desire for them" (106).  As with all the vices, avarice is also rooted out of pride.  This prideful greed is the desire to take God's role and make sure we get what we want ourselves.  A desire to be fully self-dependent.  An avaricious person can never get their fill; they never know when enough is enough.  One way to try to combat avarice is tithing.  "Tithing, like fasting, is the habitual practice of limiting our use of a good thing to regularly and continually loosen our attachment to it..." (114).  Another practice that DeYoung suggests is to give money away every week. 


Our discipline this week was to add up the costs of all the clothes in our closets here at school.  My total was roughly $3180.  I never realized how much money was spent on clothes.  I think we can all agree that we don't actually need all of the clothes that we have.  We simply want new clothes.  I never really realized how avaricious I was until reading this chapter. 

Sloth

Before this class I had never thought of sloth as being a vice.  Also before this class I didn't know what sloth really meant.  I always thought of sloth as just being lazy; sitting on the couch all day and never doing anything productive.  Now that I have read chapter 4 of Glittering Vices I have a whole new perspective on this vice.  It turns out that sloth is not just being lazy.  Sloth is actually a spiritual vice.  Laziness is one of sloth's symptoms, along with busyness or over-working.  Many people would probably think of being busy or a "workaholic" as being the opposite of sloth but it is actually just as related to sloth as laziness.  In our day in time we often think of being a workaholic as a good thing; we most definitely think it is better than being lazy but really it is not.  As I said before, sloth is a spiritual vice, it threatens our relationship with God.  The slothful person resists putting in the effort to change from their old ways to having a new identity in Christ.  We must express our love for God each day.  DeYoung says on page 88, "Instead of rejoicing at God's presence in us, the slothful chafe at it and resent the claims that God's love makes on them."  The slothful reject seek fulfillment in other things besides a relationship with God.  I think this is where we come to associate laziness with sloth.  The slothful resist the work it takes to transform into a new self.  This work is not always physical effort.  The slothful person wants what he wants without having to change.  "They find detachment from the old selfish nature too difficult, painful and burdensome, so they neglect to perform the actions that would maintain and deepen relationships of love" (91).  The sloth wants God's love without the sacrifice and ongoing struggles.  One suggestion of a remedy for sloth that DeYoung gives is to stay committed in our daily disciplines even when we don't feel like it.  We will always feel urges to give up but we need to stay the course and stay committed.  She also says to face our sources of resistance rather than trying to find the easy way out.


Our disciple was to make a log of everything we do every 15 minutes for 24 hours.  Here is my log:


12:00pm - 12:45  Class
1:00 - 1:30  Lunch
1:45  Walk to lab
2:00 - 4:00  Lab
4:15  Walk back to room
4:30   Get ready for practice
4:45-5:00  Dinner
5:15 - 6:30  Practice
6:45  Get ready to lift weights
7:00 - 8:15  Lift weights
8:30  Drink protein shake
8:45  Nothing
9:00  Shower
9:15 - 10:00  Homework
10:15 - 11:30  Play guitar
11:45  Go to bed
12:00 - 11:00am  Sleep
11:15  Shower
11:30  Get ready, put clothes on
11:45-12:00  Lunch




This discipline showed me that I am a pretty busy person, maybe too busy.  I think I might fall into that category of the workaholic.  Although I do pray at night before I go to bed and throughout the day, I think I could maybe do a little more to strengthen my relationship with God.  I think we are all guilty of trying to find the easy way out sometimes and not always doing what's best for our relationship with God.  After reading this chapter and doing the discipline I definitely look at sloth differently and will try to do some things differently in my life so that I put in more work and effort in my relationship with God. 

Vainglory

Vainglory is one of the most common of the seven capital vices.  All of us showcase vainglory every day of our lives and we don't even realize it.  DeYoung describes vainglory as the excessive and disordered desire for recognition and approval from others.  By just talking about ourselves, how many hits you got in a game, what you ate for lunch, talking about anything about ourselves exhibits vainglory.  Trying to impress friends, exaggerating something you did, striving for attention in any way is vainglory.  DeYoung mentions that many times when we do something good and others did not notice we feel disappointed.  Pride is the root of all other vices.  Although similar, pride is different from vainglory.  Pride is concerned with excellence in itself; vainglory is concerned with the display of excellence.  Vainglory is a desire for recognition where image is everything.  DeYoung says on page 65, "Vainglory gives one a quick and fleeting high instead of the substantial and lasting reward of virtue."  Vainglory is centered around our own glory and recognition.  When we do something good we should give glory and recognition to God and not ourselves and not seek recognition from others.  There are many verses in the Bible where Jesus warns against vainglory.  We do not need to seek recognition from others; like DeYoung says on page 74, "God promises to fulfill the deep desire to be known, to be acknowledged, and to be accepted with unconditional love." 


Trying to stop being vainglorious is a very difficult task.  DeYoung gives a few suggestions of how we can start.  For example, she says that we can try to take the spotlight off of ourselves.  This is incredibly difficult and this is where our disciple comes into play.  We were challenged to go a whole day without talking about ourselves in any way.  This is an almost impossible task for anyone to complete because it is just our nature to talk about ourselves and what we are doing in our day and things like that.  I obviously failed the discipline as I would expect us all to.  I tried to go as long as I could throughout the day without talking about myself but that did not last very long.  This helped me realize how vainglorious I am throughout every single day of my life and made me change the way I think about vainglory.

Envy

Envy is something all humans are very familiar with.  I think the subtitle of the second chapter describes envy well:  Feeling Bitter When Others Have It Better.  We all experience these feelings, it's in our nature.  An envious person resents another person because that person is superior to them.  The envious person wants something that someone else has and is just as concerned that the other person does not have it.  Envy is different from jealousy.  The jealous person has something that they do not want to lose.  The envious person does not have anything but wishes to gain something.  Envious people sometimes believe that they are not equal or loved equally and they have a sense of inferiority.  Many times the envier blames God for their feeling of inferiority and for someone else being better at something or having something that they don't.  Envious persons do not publicize their envy of another because this will just show their inferiority even more.  People tend to envy others that they are compared to, not people who are obviously much more talented than them or people who have nothing to do with their lives or what they care about.  Envy is opposed to love.  On page 52, DeYoung says, "Aquinas argues that this opposition to love of God and neighbor makes envy a mortal or deadly sin..."  Envy arises from pride.  We are all prideful and we do not want to be inferior to anyone, we want to be superior.  DeYoung suggests one way of trying to get rid of envy is to invest ourselves in activities with common goods.  She says, "Common goods are such that one person's increase in having them does not diminish anyone else's share" (55).  To combat envy we need to have zeal.  A zealous person knows God loves them and looks at themselves honestly with the desire to be better.  On page 57 DeYoung says, on zeal, "With it, we can freely imitate others who are our betters, appreciating but also striving to better ourselves."  This is where the discipline of giving two honest and meaningful compliments comes in.  I do not mind giving compliments where they are do.  You have to have some zeal to be able to compliment other people and not envy them because they are better than you at something.  For example, I complimented my friend on how well he can play the guitar.  I can also play the guitar but he is better than I and I do not mind complimenting him on that and I am not envious of him.  I am able to see myself honestly and I strive to be better at guitar.  So, I accomplished the task of giving honest and meaningful compliments.