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Next week we will be entering the 3rd week of Lent. How are things going for you? What works or doesn't work for you? What might need to change to give you space and time to be with God? May God be your quide on this journey through the wilderness to the cross.

The 3rd week of the Lenten Guided Prayer resource talks about "From Earning to Receiving". Connected to that is the spiritual practice of SIMPLICITY. The desire behind this gift is "wanting to uncomplicate and untangle my life so that I can focus on what really matters".*

The truth is that modern life is anything but simple. "It is always about adding one more thing. . . Adding the latest, the biggest, and the best to our lives wreaks havoc in our souls as well as in our enviroments"*

It's not just about things. We are living in a time when complicated and busy lives are a sign of a living the "good life", often leading to little time for family, for generosity or for God. This is what Jesus said in Matthew 6:19-21 

“Don’t hoard treasure down here where it gets eaten by moths and corroded by rust or—worse!—stolen by burglars. Stockpile treasure in heaven, where it’s safe from moth and rust and burglars. It’s obvious, isn’t it? The place where your treasure is, is the place you will most want to be, and end up being."

 

"Simplicity creates margins and spaces and openness in our lives. It honours the resources of our small planet. It offers us the leisure of tasting the present moment. Simplicityto let go of the tangle of wants so we can receive the simple gifts of life that cannot be taken away."*

The practice of simplicity includes things like

  • assessing the things and activities that keep life convoluted, complicated and confusing; working to simplify these things
  • setting priorities that flow from loving God
  • downsizing possessions
  • cutting back on shopping and discretionary spending
  • eating simple foods
  • enjoying simple pleasures that require no expense
  • removing distraction and preoccupation with things

Finally, I want to add some questions to ponder and to discern what God is saying to you.

  1. In what ways are you susceptible to the entitlement mentality of our age?
  2. How has the "more is better" mentality shaped you?
  3. How much of your identity is wrapped up in what you own and where you go? Who are you without all these acquisitions and opportunities?
  4. When have you downsized or given things away? What was it like for you?
I thank Adele Ahlberg Calhoun for her book "Spriritual Practices Handbook", Intervarsity Press, 2015.                                                  *All quotes with a star come from the "Spiritual Practices Handbook"

 

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