Ongoing, lifelong struggle with a specific SIN

[Jon_S_1]

I DO have anxiety with depression, and recently I have felt as if the depression could swallow me whole!

However, it is difficult to reconcile myself with using dangerous drugs. And it appears that the Catholic Church has an “anti-drug” slant.

As I mentioned earlier, I SO want to do what’s right.

There is no conflict with the Catholic Church in taking prescribed medications for legitimate medical problems.

 

[Joy2day]

Better late than never! St Padre Pio will wait for you, … are you one of his spiritual children?

 

[SpidersfromMars]

I DO have anxiety with depression, and recently I have felt as if the depression could swallow me whole!

However, it is difficult to reconcile myself with using dangerous drugs. And it appears that the Catholic Church has an “anti-drug” slant.

As I mentioned earlier, I SO want to do what’s right.

Well all drugs have side-effects, but often the effects of going UNmedicated can be even worse. It’s not like you’d tell a diabetic to give up their insulin because you heard it could be bad for them.

 

[mommamaree]

I could be wrong, but to my understanding, this does not appear to be a sin. It appears to be more of a weakness, as in, the same as a person who struggles with ADHD. Some people are very good judges of time, and are excellent at time management. Others do not have the awareness of time passing that some people have, and their general life pace is slower. However, I can understand that since you have experienced some very negative consequences due to your challenge with timeliness, you may view it as a sin. But I want to suggest that if it is not a sin, and is merely a weakness, then it would be improper to be impatient with yourself over a perceived pattern of sin. Perhaps another option exists for you. Maybe God just wants you to do your very best with developing the skill of punctuality (it is a skill, not necessarily a virtue) and then offer up your humiliations when your lateness causes consternation.
I could be completely wrong about all of this, but I just felt you were being a bit too hard on yourself over something that may not be entirely within your control. And I have never heard of time management struggles being framed in the language of sin before this thread.
Whatever path you choose to confront this issue in your life, I pray that God will give you His grace and that He will bless you.

 

[Chayla]

This is what has shaped my views/opinions on this subject:

I could be wrong, but to my understanding, this does not appear to be a sin. It appears to be more of a weakness, as in, the same as a person who struggles with ADHD. Some people are very good judges of time, and are excellent at time management….

My view of sinfulness of tardiness comes from many of the priests that I have visited in the confessional and from attending Catholic school. If I was late, I was told it’s a sin.

…Others do not have the awareness of time passing that some people have, and their general life pace is slower…

I am one of the “slower” pace, and nothing seems to bother employers more than a slower pace, even when my performance is otherwise excellent!

I have always done what I thought is a wonderful job. From some of the jobs which I was terminated, it was that I was “too slow”.

 

[mommamaree]

This is what has shaped my views/opinions on this subject:

My view of sinfulness of tardiness comes from many of the priests that I have visited in the confessional and from attending Catholic school. If I was late, I was told it’s a sin.

I am one of the “slower” pace, and nothing seems to bother employers more than a slower pace, even when my performance is otherwise excellent!

I have always done what I thought is a wonderful job. From some of the jobs which I was terminated, it was that I was “too slow”.

See, I think that is more reflective of the sin of impatience on the part of others than any sin of tardiness in you. You know the story of the tortoise and the hare? In modern life, we celebrate the hare and we denigrate the tortoise. Yet who really wins the race in the end? It is the tortoise, whose plodding pace and perseverance enabled him to repeatedly overtake the hare, even unto the end of the race! If you are a tortoise, and attempt to make yourself into a hare, of course you will injure yourself and have accidents! But if you accept yourself for who you are, and continue to plug away at life, and ignore or offer up the humiliations (the hare tried to humiliate the tortoise, too), then at the end of YOUR race, you will have won. People who do not struggle with timeliness do not understand those who do. They mistakenly believe it is a sign of disrespect or rudeness. Perhaps in some people, it may be. However, in others, it is not those things at all. I think a spiritual director or even just a few meetings with your pastor would be able to help you answer this question far better than a priest in the confessional (again, being aware that even priests are human and can be unable to understand every single human weakness).
I can understand this because I have struggled with timeliness to varying degrees at various points of my life. Sometimes, I run later than others. My husband is a fast, efficient worker, but he misses the details. My slowness enables me to notice those details and attend to them. With every weakness there is an attendant strength. I think, rather than attempting to obliterate your weakness, focus on working around it and on building up your attendant strength.
For example, getting everyone to Mass on time is real challenge to me. We do often run a tad late. One of the ways I have worked around the weakness is to lower my expectations of how “presentable” we must be before we leave. We focus upon clean body and clean clothes, and leave the dressing up for other people. Another way I have worked around it is to find the Mass time that is the easiest to arrive on time. Then we just do our best and if we run late, we can be reasonably sure it is not a sinful lapse, but merely an unfortunate event, because we tried really hard. What we will not do is run around getting ready, nor will we speed on the way in the car. Our family saying, whenever we go anywhere, is “And off we go, like a herd of turtles!!”
So I think I really understand your dilemma. And I have been chastised for lateness or similar offenses a couple of times in my work life (I stay at home now). I simply apologized, and told them they were right to correct me and thanks for the reminder. I informed them that I was not intentionally being late and that I would try extra hard from then on to be early instead. But, I am thankful that I am able to stay home now. A relaxed daily schedule is much less stressful for this turtle.

 

[Chayla]

See, I think that is more reflective of the sin of impatience on the part of others than any sin of tardiness in you. You know the story of the tortoise and the hare? In modern life, we celebrate the hare and we denigrate the tortoise. Yet who really wins the race in the end? It is the tortoise, whose plodding pace and perseverance enabled him to repeatedly overtake the hare, even unto the end of the race! If you are a tortoise, and attempt to make yourself into a hare, of course you will injure yourself and have accidents! But if you accept yourself for who you are, and continue to plug away at life, and ignore or offer up the humiliations (the hare tried to humiliate the tortoise, too), then at the end of YOUR race, you will have won. People who do not struggle with timeliness do not understand those who do. They mistakenly believe it is a sign of disrespect or rudeness. Perhaps in some people, it may be. However, in others, it is not those things at all. I think a spiritual director or even just a few meetings with your pastor would be able to help you answer this question far better than a priest in the confessional (again, being aware that even priests are human and can be unable to understand every single human weakness).
I can understand this because I have struggled with timeliness to varying degrees at various points of my life. Sometimes, I run later than others. My husband is a fast, efficient worker, but he misses the details. My slowness enables me to notice those details and attend to them. With every weakness there is an attendant strength. I think, rather than attempting to obliterate your weakness, focus on working around it and on building up your attendant strength.
For example, getting everyone to Mass on time is real challenge to me. We do often run a tad late. One of the ways I have worked around the weakness is to lower my expectations of how “presentable” we must be before we leave. We focus upon clean body and clean clothes, and leave the dressing up for other people. Another way I have worked around it is to find the Mass time that is the easiest to arrive on time. Then we just do our best and if we run late, we can be reasonably sure it is not a sinful lapse, but merely an unfortunate event, because we tried really hard. What we will not do is run around getting ready, nor will we speed on the way in the car. Our family saying, whenever we go anywhere, is “And off we go, like a herd of turtles!!”
So I think I really understand your dilemma. And I have been chastised for lateness or similar offenses a couple of times in my work life (I stay at home now). I simply apologized, and told them they were right to correct me and thanks for the reminder. I informed them that I was not intentionally being late and that I would try extra hard from then on to be early instead. But, I am thankful that I am able to stay home now. A relaxed daily schedule is much less stressful for this turtle.

Very kind and encouraging response. Thank You!!!

 

[savedbygrace71]

I also think that being chronically late isn’t sinful. It’s stressful, upsetting, and seems to be part of a much bigger problem, but I don’t see how it’s sinful.

I take a daily medication to control an anxiety disorder. There is ABSOLUTELY no reason for you to hesitate to take a prescribed medication that will help you gain control. See a medical doctor, who knows what you are experiencing, and carefully listens to all your symptoms. Imagine if in a month or two the distractions and scatterbrained feelings could settle down and even disappear? They could- please, go see a doctor. Praying for you. You can do this!

 

[DMC12]

Look, if being late is because of an illness it is not a sin, since sin is something we choose to do against God, if you don’t have a choice then there is no sin.

second, drugs for the mind can be dangerous, of course, but if they use them it’s because the good is better than the wrongs, the Church is not against prescribed drugs.
so please go to the Dr. as soon as possible, your priest told you, we are telling you, it is the best.

let me give you an example on how the Church view on drugs is at least in your case, if some addict took a drug that made him to lose consciousness just because he wants to, it would be a sin, but if in a surgery you get anesthesia and lose conciousness it would not be a sin, since it is prescribed by a medic trying to do the best for you.