The man on the other end of the phone was a former pastor, now deconverted from his faith. But his voice lacked the triumphant tone of a newly inducted atheist.

“I hope no one does what I did,” he confessed. In a vortex of church conflict and ministry burnout, compounded by adrenal fatigue, he sought escape. First, it was pornography, then escalating alcohol use. “It didn’t feel like hedonism,” he explained. “But I became more and more numb, until I could feel nothing at all.”

I think about that man often. His story echoes that of many embattled pastors I know. While not all face addiction, the temptation to emotionally shut down is pervasive, rooted in a fatigue the ancient desert monks termed acedia. This weariness, more prevalent in an era of unceasing outrage and divided congregations, is not just stress or tiredness—it’s despair.

Identifying this despair is the first step, followed by slow, gradual progress through the ordinary means ...