Change of Intention
I came to Scribettes, my local writing group, thinking I would work on my new story. I even brought my new ipad that I still am not sure how to use. Because my files are on it. I should be able to get started, right?
Nope.
So I picked a prompt from the pile in the middle of the table. I didn’t like it so I picked another. It was the same prompt. I picked another one from another pile. Same prompt. One more time. Same prompt. Different piles. Same prompt.
If you could get really simple in your life, what would that look like?
Surely there must be a message in this somewhere. Help me pull it out, Lord. You must have something to say.
What is the Meaning of this?
First – a simple life. I have no idea what that means. I’ve never lived one. And most of my friends haven’t either, as far as I can tell.
What does a simple life look like?
Google, who knows everything, says simple means, “easy to understand or do.”
I beg to differ.
Google’s next meaning is, “having few parts, or free from complication and extra decoration.”
Really? At holiday time?
One more Google: “not difficult, plain, uncomplicated, innocent, honest, unadorned.” Okay, that’s enough. And I don’t think I am any closer to understanding what a simple life looks like.
The closest sense I have would be in examining the ancients. The mystics who resided in monasteries hidden away from the world. Years ago, my eighth-grade class went on a field trip to a convent where they tried to influence us into that life. I couldn’t run fast enough.
The bells ring, they rise. The bells ring, they eat. The bells ring, they work. The bells ring, they pray. The bells ring, they retire to sleep.
Not for me.
A Simple Life
But maybe there is something to be said about that kind of simple life. Retreat from the world to seek God. To be quiet and listen for His voice. Or to soak in the wisdom of the Holy Spirit. To appreciate the creation He has made and praise Him, unhindered and uninterrupted.
I don’t have to withdraw into a monastic lifestyle to take time out and just BE. Be present with the One who loves me most and gave His life that I might simply have a life to live.
I guess that’s what a simple life looks like. Simple in pockets. But always filled in order to fill those around me. To satisfy the commandments to love God and love my neighbor.
A boss I once worked for drilled into all of his employees that it’s all about, “relationships, relationships, relationships.”
That’s a pretty simple motto to live by.
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