Posts Tagged ‘simplicity’

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The Discipline of Simplicity

May 14, 2014

I have more books than you, in fact, all the walls of my office are lined with books.

There was a conversation recently where we were discussing reading print versus electronically. I own a lot of books. They mostly are not in my office any longer. That is because we moved them all downstairs a couple of years ago in order to paint and recarpet my home office. So now, two of the four walls of our downstairs guest bedroom are filled with bookcases.

But one guy bragged about how many books he had. He didn’t mean anything by the comment, but it made me think.

If simplicity is a Spiritual Discipline, then how many books do we need? Is it like a library where we may need to reference them? Or is it clutter? Something to point to with pride? Filling up our rooms.

I’m not going to answer that directly. Simplicity is a state of mind. Are we tied to things, or do we use things?

Maybe like my choice in cars. After many years of trying to go cheap on cars and worrying about constant repairs, I spent a little more money (not Mercedes or Lexus money, though) and bought a car with reasonable styling but great reliability. Given where I live and what I do, I need a car. If I am going to own one, I want one that does not complicate my life.

Clothes are another item that can bring clutter or suck up too much space. How many do you really need?

How many things do you have that get in the way of simply living–or living simply? What can we divest ourselves of? Uncomplicating our lives is a useful goal for enhancing our deepening life in the Spirit.

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Passionately Curious

May 5, 2014

As many long-time readers know, if I miss a day or two, I’m traveling. I had many meetings in the Chicago area last week. That enabled me to have an eye exam and try out new contacts courtesy of my daughter-in-law. Then also spend time with my grandkids–ages 4 and 6.

“I have no special talents. I am only passionately curious.” ― Albert Einstein

We were walking across the parking lot to the restaurant for dinner. My granddaughter was holding my hand and skipping and jumping. One of the things I love about kids is just this exuberance. To have that energy at the end of the day. Reminded me of walks with my grandson when he was 18 months or so. He lived in Florida at the time. Walks could take a long time. We stopped and checked out everything–leaves, bugs, lizards, worms, birds. That’s another thing about kids, curiosity.

I think so many people lose their curiosity. I have always been curious about things. Still am. I think that trait has kept me young even though I’m not.

Along with that thought, I picked up another:

“If you want your children to be intelligent, read them fairy tales. If you want them to be more intelligent, read them more fairy tales.” ― Albert Einstein

Children also know no bounds with dreaming up new things. They can blow up your structured thinking and closed way of looking at the world.

We need this in all areas of our lives. I’ve seen people in church without curiosity or imagination. I’ve seen them especially in business. The people in business who have influenced me the most had these traits.

The smaller children, before they learn differently, also just “tell it like it is.” I’m seeing situations in organizations I’m in where there are some people hiding behind masks. Not seeming to be as they are.

It’s a good thing to be childlike. I’m not sure if that is part of what Jesus said about being like children.

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Gratitude Even When You Don’t Feel It

April 29, 2014

Some days, I just don’t feel grateful.

A long, long time ago when I first got into supervision in manufacturing, my boss told me that it would not be technical problems that ate your time and energy. It would be people problems. And it’s true. Everywhere I look recently, it seems that there are people problems blocking my path. Have several now.

I try to teach people about the value of mindfulness. When I sat in my chair this morning to meditate on this post, my thoughts went everywhere. No focus. No mindfulness. I’d come back to the present and then suddenly realize I was off thinking about something else.

There is a recurring to-do item in my Nozbe Getting Things Done planner (affiliate link) to make a list of people and things for which I’m grateful. I often ignore it.

That makes it even more important to my mental/emotional/spiritual well being to stop and contemplate all the blessings which deserve gratitude.

  • People who’ve come into my life
  • A meaningful ministry that can bring spiritual growth to many
  • Choices that led to a simple lifestyle that reduces financial worry
  • The ability to think and write
  • The ability to listen to God when He metaphorically kicks me in the pants and tells me to get over emotional despair
  • Opportunities beyond which I could never even dream as a kid in a very small town in a very rural area

Thanks for listening. What’s your list? Even just writing that list brought to mind many thoughts and prayers for each item. It’s good to make yourself stop in the midst of mental and spiritual distraction and make a list.

Now to go tackle those people problems.

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Release Hidden Tensions

February 7, 2014

Neighbors called the rescue squad. There was something unusually quiet about the apartment of the old woman. They entered, found her in distress, and took her to the hospital. She had one hand tightly clenched into a fist. They could not get her to release. Finally, a doctor in the emergency room pried open her hand. Inside was a quarter.

Henri Nouwen tells this story in the beginning of his book “With Open Hands.” It is an image that has stayed with me for many years. The image of someone desperately hanging on to something valuable. So incredibly tensed up. Hanging on.

Jesus told stories about people trying to hang on to things. And he taught about the futility of that. Today I’m told there is a TV series (maybe more than one) about “hoarders” who can’t bear to throw anything away.

I’d like to relate this to the mindfulness discussion I started with this week. And prayer–which is where Nouwen took the story.

Part of being mindful is to open up. Become open to the world around you. Become open to God. You cannot walk around and really be with people if you are tensed up with worry about things which are of no value to God and actually impede your relationship with God and people.

In Yoga, I put people into positions where they hold a pose designed to stretch and strengthen a  particular muscle or muscle group. Then I will suggest that they do a mental scan of their bodies at that time. If we are working the upper leg muscle (say in Warrior pose), we discover often that we are holding tension in our shoulders. We should not be holding tension there. We should only be working the leg muscle. We remind ourselves to relax.

While warming up, I will have the class in sitting position cross-legged on the mat. We sit erect, stretch our arms out straight, then bring the palms of the hands together in front. Breathing deeply, we bring our arms back until we are pinching the shoulder blades together. We put the thought in our minds that we are opening ourselves up to greet the day. Then we bring our arms forward on the exhale and put the thought in our minds that we are releasing all the tensions of the day. Repeat about 4-6 times.

We have our minds and bodies intentionally working together alert to the moment–and only the moment. Now we can pray.

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Advent or Christmas Season

December 1, 2010

Are you in the Advent season? Or are you in the Christmas season? Another way to look at this thought is–are you recreating the anticipation of Jesus’ birth that signals the advent of a new movement of God’s Spirit in the world, or are you caught up in nostalgia and gift-giving just to be giving gifts–or even in gift-getting, hoping to get lots of stuff.

It’s the time of year for pastors and teachers to talk about remembering Christ. But a Sunday sermon or lesson is not enough. Then we go out and immediately become inundated with advertising seeking emotional levers in our souls to get us to buy more stuff.

What began as a simple way to remember how visitors left gifts for Jesus has become an all-out effort fraught with worry and anxiety. Part of the trouble is–at least in American society–we all have lots of stuff. What we should be doing is throwing stuff out and simplifying and uncluttering our lives. Instead, we’re asking for more stuff. Heck, even I got more stuff. I’m the owner of a new Apple iPad–my early Christmas present. I’ll use it as a tool for work, but still, I could just use what I already have.

Medieval English mystic Walter Hilton said, “For no man can be spiritually healed unless he wants and desires to be spiritually healthy.” The attributes of focus and placing attention on the right things have become my themes lately (will be tomorrow’s subject when I meet with my new boss at the magazine). Hilton states a psychological truth. You have to want to be healed before you can be–at least regarding spiritual things, and as we now know, addictions as well.

Get yourself a little reminder to keep with you that you can touch and see to remind you that you desire to put your attention on the coming of Jesus in your life and push the gift-giving frenzy back to its proper place. Do something for someone or some group. Give service, honor Jesus. Simplify. You’ll have a more enjoyable December.

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Beyond Hate and Anger

September 30, 2010

Underlying so much of the so-called discussion of messages floating around the Internet and reactions to various people and ideas are hate and anger. Now anger probably leads to hate, because it must eventually manifest itself against someone or something. Anger usually springs up from inside yourself. Causes are individual, but certain general causes accumulate from the individual. Often anger comes from internal feelings of lack of self-worth, or feeling threatened by events, or feelings of fear of others who are different from me, or fear of losing my wealth–or not getting the wealth I feel I deserve.

The generation now in its 50s and entering the 60s has been described as the “me generation” since before 1970. And that’s a lot of what I see. Too many people are still striving for everything that they think they are owed, when in fact, they are owed nothing. Too wrapped up in accumulating things and worried simultaneously about losing what they have and not getting as many things as they desire, they lash out at others who threaten their lifestyle–at least as they see it.

I’m back to Thomas a Kempis in The Imitation of Christ, but you could find similar words in most spiritual writers. “A man is raised up from the earth by two wings–simplicity and purity. There must be simplicity in his intention and purity in his desires. Simplicity leads to God, purity embraces and enjoys Him.”

Only by simplifying your life and striving for purity by focusing on God through Jesus can you deal with all the internal turmoil–the conflicts that lead to hate, anger, fear. I counsel that to so many people I meet these days who are so conflicted by striving and worry. Calm down, breathe, seek God, meditate on His Word. In these you can start toward simplicity and the true peace that God offers.

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