On Slugs and Sluggards

berkshirebotanical.org

Are you a sluggard? The dictionary says it is a lazy, sluggish person. Synonyms are: ne'er-do-well, layabout, do nothing, idler, loafer, lounger, good for nothing. No one wants to own up to a description like that.

Contrary to popular belief, sluggards are not the same as slugs. From what little I know about slugs, they work pretty hard, devouring plants faster than they can grow. Slugs are ugly, but they are not good for nothing. They have a purpose in life: they help decompose leaves, fungus and decaying vegetables.

I'll be the first to admit I can be a sluggard. There are always tasks I want to put off or never do at all. Those dishes that pile up every day, and the laundry that cycles through every week make me want to be a sluggard. When I have a To Do list more than five pages long, I want to curl up in a ball like a slug. I've been known to sit idle and loaf and lounge and lay about.

The sluggard is mentioned ten times in Proverbs, but my favorite description of him is, "The sluggard buries his hand in the dish; he will not even bring it back to his mouth!"

Let's hope I never become that sluggardish.