Sunday, October 23, 2022

Slow Like a Sloth

 


October is the month where pumpkins reign as king. Everything from coffee to cereal is flavored with pumpkin spice. Colorful leaves on trees and crisp evenings and mornings are a welcome relief after a hot summer.  Fall festivals and trick or treating are other fun events for October.

October is also the month when we gear up for Christmas. Hallmark Christmas movies start this coming week. The stores are already filled with Holiday décor, and families begin to plan their celebrations. Other festivals celebrated during the month of October suit me better.

International Sloth Day is celebrated on October 20, 2022.  Sloths mostly inhabit Central and South America, but they are being celebrated worldwide during October. Their appearance and characteristics make them very loveable. People enjoy seeing them in zoos in their natural habitat.

The Bible talks about the sin of slothfulness.  It’s easy to fall into slothfulness after retirement and when you’re closing in on 80 years old. The temptation to stay in bed longer in the mornings and stay up later at night is real. Those comfy pajamas are harder to shed. The lure of interesting posts on Facebook and on my computer grab my attention and before I know it, an hour has sprinted by. I should’ve spent that hour in prayer or getting some exercise.

Procrastination is a first cousin of slothfulness. Putting things off until tomorrow is a deadly habit that I need to avoid. “Hanging around” like a sloth doesn’t get much done. There are some days when tackling the to do list is not an option. Aches and pains and brain fog puts me in my chair where I stay except to get something to eat. Thankfully, those slothful days are followed by several days of productive activity.

The sloth is very slow moving and it takes a month to digest a meal. God made that creature to remind us that He loves us on our slothful days as well as our productive days.