Material Simplicity

Simplicity of Life

"There is a form of material poverty which is blessed.
“Ah, yes; we were poor, but happy.”
Saint Francis fell in love with it.
In its more striking forms, it may look like a spare and bare existence. But this is not a material deprivation which dehumanizes. It humanizes us.
Simplicity of life is concerned with our relationship to things. But the heart of its meaning is the relatedness of persons. It is positive and blessed because it is grounded in the right order of valuing persons over objects.
Things are good. They are better and best when they are for persons, personal existence, personal celebration.
Life is for people: hence, simplicity.

We travel light enough so that the goods of the earth may be enjoyed and celebrated by all, so that they may bring the glory to God. We travel light enough so that we ourselves may be for persons, rather than expend our lives collecting, maintaining and replacing objects.

In simplicity, we are empowered to see the destitute, to share of our abundance, to ease the dehumanizing poverty that cries out to us. It enables us to give freely, to be more equitable. It frees us to engage the injustices of the world which are often the source of personal degradation. It makes us less fearful to put our security at risk.

In simplicity, we are given time to enter the grace of our human poverty. If we do not surround and suffocate ourselves with things, by which we manage and control our lives, we are far less likely to believe in the illusion that we have no need of God. We would less likely pretend that we are “self-made” men and women. Simplicity, as a liberation from the chains of consumerism, is also a call to prayer, wherein we encounter our spiritual poverty before God and discover the joy of recognizing ourselves as loved and forgiven creatures. Simplicity, moreover, gives us time for each other, for relationships and intimacy and friendship. A simple change in our style of working, consuming, or spending time with television profoundly affects our availability for persons.

Simplicity is as related to love as it is to justice.
It is freedom from compulsive addictions and entrenched escape mechanisms.
It is liberty to see ourselves anew and to disengage from the comforts that blind us to the face of the poor.
It unfetters us, that we might play and savor the moment, that we might give thanks and sing appreciation.
It can unlock us, finally, that we might do bold things, that we might more fully be men and women, not for things, but for others."

- John Kavanaugh, S.J

This week challenge yourself to simplify your life. What excess do you have and why do you hold on to it? What keeps us from interacting with those in our families? Our neighbors? Our friends? Our God? Do we create a life in which we are in full control or is their a need for God in our lives?

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