“Keeping it simple has fallen on hard times.” says Adele Ahlberg Calhoun (Spiritual Disciplines Handbook: Practices That Transform Us p75) I think most of us cannot adequately participate in the spiritual disciplines of Lent because life is too busy and complicated. Basketball practices, workout, go to work early, go to a church meeting, run to the store, get gas… you know the drill. Eugene Peterson thinks the To-Do list is sacred, and not something we get done and out of the way so we can be spiritual.
A fellow Presbyter recently told us that travel is a part of what it takes to stay connected as fellow churches, that we should put forth the effort to go be with other churches. He mentioned the beauty of ancient Jews traveling to Jerusalem for Purim or some other annual festival. I can’t help but imagine a long three to five day walk with my family and my village’s families all hiking and camping along the way, settling in around the fire at night by the well or spring, perhaps thousands of others doing the same thing – it was a national rhythm. That sounds simple and refreshing. Of course they had their hassles: who will water the garden, feed the flock, tend the chickens, protect the house? Grandma? Who knows. Maybe they thought Purim was a big hassle. But in my imagination I think not.
Then I compare my travel for church meetings in other cities. The best part is driving alone along I-70 for 3.5 hours. I listen to CDs and just enjoy the drive. But other than that, I can’t draw many parallels to Jews on pilgrimage “going from strength to strength” and my trips: packing up, drive or fly, get to the hotel, find out where I am going, etc. This isn’t really peaceful for me. If it is peaceful it is about like the schedule break one experiences like when one has to go get their teeth cleaned. I hear people fall asleep at the dentist. I am always just that close, but there is something about drills in my mouth that disrupts my relaxation.
I even go on private solitude retreats each month – and they have their set of hassles: arrange with Laurie, pack up, get food, get all the equipment together – each month – I have a check list, a equipment box I keep ready, and it is still mostly a “discipline of inconvenience.”
Simplicity is focused primarily on pace of money making and managing money, and the schedule of life. You wanna feel like a weirdo in suburbia? Lead a simple lifestyle. Don’t run around, don’t do all the sports and kid activities. Minimize shopping. Don’t watch television. Don’t eat out. Get up early and go to bed early. Read, garden, walk. Sounds like retirees, doesn’t it? Imagine a 29 year old doing this. At 24 I was just geeky enough to want to sit and read early on Saturday and Sunday mornings. I’d get my Bisquick biscuits, coffee and big theology books and just read. Maybe I’d put on some Pat Metheny jazz or some bebob jazz. Back then I had no idea that I was slowing. Because the rest of the week was so busy. I just did it because I needed to breath as some point in the week – and I didn’t have a family.
Simplicity is an art, a lifestyle. The Quakers got it right: “Tis a gift to be simple, tis a gift to be free.” Everyone has this gift sitting before them. Do we desire the godward relationship and inner peace, and outer justice, which flows from solitude, silence, fasting, frugality and simplicity?
