Boredom

Boredom is a sin, so say the church fathers. This is because when we allow ourselves to become bored, we are saying that we have nothing of value upon which to expend our time and energy. But this is nonsense. The is always something productive to do. There are always prayers to be prayed. There are always sins to confess. There are always neighbors to love. There is always something to learn.
A bored attitude comes from a heart wallowing in and controlled by the passions. It is a heart that needs to be entertained and titillated. Instead, our hearts should be filled to overflowing with love for God and love for our neighbor. When we think of others, rather than ourselves, we will never be bored. When we are striving after holiness, we will always recognize some way of improving our life or the life of someone else.
We must learn to look being our own comfort and entertainment.

The goal

Why do we think that life should be comfortable and entertaining?  We go to school/university in order to get a job that we enjoy so that we can have enough money to be comfortable and entertained so that we can retire comfortably (i.e., stop being productive) and entertain ourselves.
It seems that most people (the culture in the USA) is built around comfort and entertainment.  But this is not a Christian attitude.  When one works through the New Testament and hears the words of the saints throughout church history, we do not hear a promotion of comfort and entertainment.  In fact, we hear the opposite.  Our lives should be formed in a way that our first thought should be how to love God and love neighbor.
Would we consider giving up our comfort if we could use our time, money and energy to provide for the needs of others?  Would we lower our standard of living so that someone else could actually eat today, so that someone else may have a place to sleep, so that someone else could learn a skill in order to provide for their own needs?
We have become so accustomed to our present way of life that, unfortunately, we cannot even conceive of living with less comfort, so that someone else can simply have their foundational needs met.  Think of the story of Jesus and one of his disciples watching people give money at the temple.  Jesus praised the old woman who gave out of her need and criticized the rich man who gave out of his abundance.  In other words, the giving of the rich man, though objectively a large sum of money, was nothing to him, as he was still fat and comfortable.
This is a topic I am really struggling with and thinking about.  How do I live in a way that is consistent with the faith I claim as my own?  We should not be idealistic, as it typically fails, but instead, we should be realistic and faithful.  We need to understand what the church means, what the church has historically taught and practiced and strive to emulate this.
We cannot allow mediocrity and ease to control and direct our lives.

Wisest Approach

I had gone to the local library website and was checking on what books needed to be returned, when I came across the new Ann Coulter book, "Adios, America".  I read the snippet and the reviews and was intrigued.  But then it occurred to me.  What would be the wisest approach to reading this sort of hyper political/cultural commentary?  As is the case with reading, when we read someone who is "inside our circle", we tend to lower our guards and believe what we read, simply because we are reading something with which we probably already agree.
And the opposite is true when we are reading from someone who is "outside our circle".  We are extremely guarded and critical.  The real chore is to be guarded and critical with everything we read.
So what is the best way to approach this sort of reading?  I cannot say to what degree I agree with Ann Coulter.  Since becoming Orthodox, I have found that within the church, there is not political party.  Some of what the Republicans say is correct, some of what the Democrats say is correct, some of the Third party candidates speak the truth.  But none of them can be whole-heartedly embraced as "the answer" to America's problems.
The real answer, I believe, is that faithfulness to Christ, love of God and love of neighbor, in whatever way we can, is the answer to America's problems.  Reading the various political perspectives and opinions may be helpful, may be harmful, but overall should be done carefully and critically, no matter who you read.  Read with an open mind but filter is all through Jesus' words, "love God and love neighbor".