If you find yourself hanging around the house this Saturday, doing nothing, then you are perfectly positioned to be celebrating October 20th's International Sloth Day! This adorable, slow-moving, tree-dwelling and leaf-eating mammal, native to South and Central America, might not seem to be a candidate for its own day...but compared to other hot air holidays it seems downright reasonable!

Created in 2010 by the AIUNAU Foundation, a non-profit conservation and wildlife organization based in Columbia, this unofficial holiday is meant to raise awareness of the life cycle, natural habitat, and environmental concerns that endanger the Sloth. The Sloth is probably not natural fodder for a National Geographic special, which favors a lot of movement and dramatic action for viewer response. That would have to be either a fixed camera proposition or, instead of slow motion, they would have to use the fast forward button...our friend is the world's slowest moving animal! And the camera would have to always be pointed up, since they spend their entire life dangling upside down from limbs of trees.

Here's a couple of tidbits I didn't know about the Sloth (to be honest I know very little about our subject)...they have two layers of fur and four sections of stomach! The inner layer of fur is rather pristine and is protective of what lies, by no accident, in its outer layer...there it harbors a variety of symbiotic fungi, beetles, and other insects. This consortium promotes the growth of algae on the outer fur that gives the Sloth its characteristic green color and helps it camouflage itself in thick vegetation. Far from simply being inert, recent studies have shown that the algae and fungi housed in the outer layer of fur may help fight many human diseases, including cancer! And even though sloths mostly eat leaves, their stomachs can't easily digest them.   So sloths have four compartments there...it takes them almost a month to digest a meal! So if humans had the activity level of sloths we would all be grossly overweight...instead they remain remarkably fit and trim.

So I rise in praise of the Sloth...someone must stand up for this much maligned being!   Somehow it became the poster child for reluctance to work or make an effort. Its name became synonymous with laziness and even achieved infamy as one of the seven deadly sins in Christian philosophy. I guess I have as much antipathy toward just hanging around and being defined by indolence and sluggish lethargy as the next guy...just don't take it out on the sloth! If this unique creature holds the key to curing cancer, won't we all have a job wiping off the centuries old egg on our face! Besides that, in this "go go" society where inactivity is viewed with suspicion because we have to constantly prove our worthiness...maybe the Sloth can teach us a thing or two about the worthiness of taking a breather. To have a rest and take a break are worthy steps toward restoration and regeneration...try it this Sunday and begin it in church. You'll only be following Jesus' advice!

And if you can't stomach some of the shenanigans going on in our world and you've had a belly full of the shameless and wanton embrace of the other six sins...wouldn't it be great to ease our indigestion with additional compartments? Slowing your pace for six days and resting on the seventh by coming to worship and participating in fellowship can offer mental respite and re-creation. You can't change your physiology...but through theology and a dose of spirituality your absorption rate might balance itself!

R.E.L.A.X. and hang in there!