Overcoming Laziness

Laziness, called as sloth or lethargy is a malady that has been plaguing people for ages without them even realising it. While many don’t consider it seriously, dismissing its adverse effects on a person rather nonchalantly, the Church noted its detrimental nature, categorizing it as one of the seven deadly sins. Does the Bible talk about laziness? Yes, at length. In fact, rejecting and overcoming laziness is an important prerequisite to finding God. The Bible says, “Those who seek me early shall find me” (KJV).

King David, the man after God’s Own Heart, extensively about crying out to the LORD in the early morning in his Psalms. Even Jesus, God in Flesh, was an early riser during His sojourn on this earth.“Rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, He departed and went out to a desolate place, and there He prayed. (Mark 1:35)”. This indicates that waking up early is something indispensable in order to solidify one’s relationship with God. The wisest man ever to live on planet earth, Solomon, wrote of the sluggard. He wrote thus: The sluggard makes absurd excuses to avoid work, saying things like, “There is a lion in the road!”.The sluggard loves sleep and stays in bed, turning “on his hinges” like a door, and is slow to rise. So, Solomon basically says that the lazy person gives excuses justifying his lifestyle and he also says this will lead to poverty.

SEEK THE HELP OF THE HOLY SPIRIT:

Now that we have laid down the dangers of lethargy, let’s explore how to overcome it and keep laziness at bay. By the help of the Evergreen Friend and the Third Member of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit, laziness can be overcome. While this might come off as a cliché, it holds so true. Though the Holy Spirit is the Third Member of the Trinity it doesn’t in any way diminish His stature in the Trinity. He is as much God as God the Father and God the Son. The Holy Spirit is our ever reliable hope in these last days. He is not just a Force or a Spirit, He is a Person. He will help in discarding laziness. Ask Him to do the needful, and though the process might be gradual it will nonetheless be fruitful.

GO TO BED EARLY AND WAKE UP EARLY:

Some practical ways to rid oneself of Sloth is by going to bed early and waking up early. Going to bed at around 10:30 at night and waking up at 5 or 5:30 AM could be ideal as doctors recommend 7 to 8 hours of sleep daily.

SOME DO’S AND DON’TS:

Avoid screen time(using phone, computer or TV) a few hours before going to bed, as its bright light hinders sleep. In the morning, it will be a tough battle wrestling with the blanket and getting up, but with prayer, determination, and commitment, it is possible. It is a gradual process that requires patience. But remember, with persistence it can be done quite easily. Set an Alarm daily. Don’t forget to wash your face as soon as you get up early in the morning. Do sing some worship songs. Do read your Bible and exercise your spiritual muscle. Also, do bodily exercise to keep yourself fit and to ward off dullness. This is not an exhaustive list, but this can be enough to keep lethargy at bay. May the good Lord help us to be active, rejoice in Him and make us a living testimony! Shalom.

Why AI Won’t Fully Replace Humans in the Workforce

A never-ending debate on whether AI will completely replace humans in the future is always on. There are genuine concerns that humans might lose their inherent value in the job market ever since the advent of AI. These concerns aren’t new or unfounded. But I think nothing can truly, fully be a substitute for humans. Machines themselves didn’t form on their own. There was always a human brain working behind the scenes. That is, they are always created by humans. There have been books, movies that have imagined robots taking over human beings, but then, they will just remain as works of imagination. Nothing more than that. Let me explain further:

Our brains are powerful, and their magnificence has still not been studied to its full extent. It is a fact that AI can generate everything from blog posts to ad copy within seconds, but it is also a fact that AI can never FEEL anything. We humans thrive on emotions; we can feel deeply, empathize, and that makes us more responsible. AI has none of that. It just adds more to the existing data fed to it.

I’m not in anyway diminishing AI’s helpfulness or the things we have been able to achieve because of it, but there will never be a time, when AI can replace humans. That simply is not going to happen. AI also, in a way, lacks genuine creativity when compared to the infinite creativity and variety of humans. AI has no morals, doesn’t understand certain things, and can be difficult to connect with as with a human. It is for these reasons that I quite strongly believe that there is no existential threat for humans in the job market as AI can never fully take over us. It can complement us. But can never be a proper replacement.

AI has been a helpful addition to human beings, but I can’t envisage them taking over humans in any way or form.

Are we as a society becoming less empathetic?

There isn’t a more beautiful saying than, “In a world where you can be anything, be kind”. Unfortunately, this is exactly the quality that’s been missing among the people of planet earth now. Empathy, kindness and the like are some of the virtues these days that are hard to find among the GenZ. This generation claims and professes to be wise, but in reality their self-proclaimed superior intellect is ineffectual as it is not coupled with a heart of warmth and kindness. We as a society are failing ourselves and the ones around us by being hardhearted, stubborn and exceedingly hate-filled. Empathy is virtually non-existent. It has become a rare commodity.

What is Empathy? Empathy also is akin to bravery. But unfortunately, our society has increasingly become self centred so much so that if someone is being attacked, filming that in their smartphones comes first in the priority list rather than intervening and stopping the violence. It beats me how people can record such videos without actually stepping in to rescue the person or the victim attacked.

Humanity is disappearing slowly and a casual skimming of social media comments will reveal the present state of society at large. Vitriolic hate just because they are of a different religion, caste or creed or whatever can be seen on facebook, Instagram and on YouTube. Having differences of opinion is understandable, but only a handful are presenting them in a polite way in social media. Trolling has become rampant and the anonymity that social media very readily offers only fuels it all the more.

Comments that are loaded with hate and poison are typed by keyboard warriors who probably have nothing to do in life and hence keep dissipating evil. There is war, terrorism and all other vice of the like unleashed in the world. The earth is replete with people who have empathy as the least in their hierarchy.

Only the good Lord has to take away our hearts of stone and replace it with a heart of flesh. Or else, we are headed towards a path that promises doom and destruction.

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