Tilling the Soil of the Soul November 27, 2005
Simplicity
Matthew 6:19-21, 24-33
I received an email this week from Outside Magazine with the title: “Gift Guide Madness”
It read…
“The time of immaculate consumption is upon us. From a flaming kayak paddle to an indestructible laptop that can pinpoint your exact location on earth, we’ve gathered the hardest, softest, smoothest, and sleekest gear of the year in our annual holiday-swag blowout. PLUS: More gift ideas for everyone on your list, from books and CDs to travel gear.”
They directed me to an article full of reviews of the latest gadgets and gear for outdoor adventure sports (every one of which I, of course, would love to receive from Santa!) I just loved that line – “immaculate consumption” - all at once it reminds us that we have missed the point of Christmas by making it a spiritual act of materialism and it invites us into the adventure of missing the point.
Last week, when we asked the question, “how are we to be counter-cultural to our neighbourhood?” Julie talked about not entering into the culture of consumption. If our culture (and our neighbourhood) has a god (we actually have more than just one) it is the god of Mammon. Jesus warns us about getting caught up in serving the god of Mammon, or materialism when he says You cannot serve two masters, either you will hate the one and serve the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money” – Luke 16:13
One of the ways that we war against the god of Mammon in our own lives is to practice the spiritual discipline of simplicity. We have already looked at the Disciplines of meditation and contemplative prayer, and this discipline differs from those in that those disciplines are much like physical exercise whereas the disciple of simplicity is a lifestyle change.
The discipline of simplicity is the conscious act of not being tied to the things of this world.
“Living simply means adopting a lifestyle that avoids unnecessary accumulation of material items, or what Quakers have often referred to as “cumber.” It helps us seek outward detachment from the things of this world in order to focus our lives on the leadings of the Spirit. Living simply entails clearing our lives and our houses of Spiritual and material clutter so as to create more space for faithful living.” – Catherine Whitmire in
“Simplicity does not mean
Getting ride of all your possessions,
But rather integrating them
Into you life’s purpose”
- Mary Gregory, quoted in “Plain Living: a Quaker path to simplicity”
Inner simplicity.
The Discipline of Simplicity begins with inner simplicity – simplicity of mind and heart. Jesus tells us not to worry about the outer material things in our life, but to seek one thing – to seek God’s kingdom, His reign, His rule. Inner simplicity comes from keeping the first things first. Jesus makes the promise that if we put first things first, all the other things will come, but they will not have the hold on us that they would if we sought them first.
Foster says, “As Jesus made so clear in (Matthew 6:25-33), freedom from anxiety is one of the inward evidences of seeking the kingdom of God first. The inward reality of simplicity involves a life of joyful unconcern for possession. Neither the greedy nor the miserly know that liberty. It has nothing to do with abundance of possessions or their lack. It is an inward spirit of trust. The sheer fact that a person is living without things is no guarantee that he or she is living in simplicity. Paul taught us that the love of money is the root of all evil, and often those who have it the least love it the most. It is possible for a person to be developing an outward life-style of simplicity and to be filled with anxiety. Conversely, wealth does not bring freedom from anxiety.”
Much of this inner simplicity can grow with in us through the “tilling of the soil of the soul” that happens through other Spiritual disciplines like meditation, prayer, fasting and study.
But inner simplicity can also be fed by outer simplicity and visa versa if we allow them to, just as a heart of service can grow by actually serving others.
Outward Simplicity
Foster says “to describe simplicity only as an inner reality is to say something false. The inner reality is not a reality until there is an outward expression. To experience the liberating spirit of simplicity will affect how we live.
Simplicity is not so much about what we own, but about what owns us. If we need lots of possessions to maintain our self-esteem and create our self-image and to look good to our neighbors, then we have forgotten or neglected that which is real and inward. If our time, money, and energy are consumed in selecting, acquiring, maintaining, cleaning, moving, improving, replacing, dusting, storing, using, showing off, and talking about our possessions, then there is little time, money, and energy left for other pursuits such as the work we do to further the Community of God.
- Christin Hadley Snyder, quoted in Plain Living: a Quaker path to simplicity
Practices of Simplicity
Simplicity of Possessions & Wealth
Joe’s Christmas Challenge
Several years ago, the Daily Bread Food Bank released information about the people who are using their services in the Toronto area. One statement jumped out at me. It said the average family of four on Social Assistance, after they have paid their rent and utilities, has $196 remaining for the month. Once the landlord is satisfied and the hydro and gas aren’t going to be turned off… at least for this month, they are left with $196 to “budget” with. That works out to $49 a week. The numbers stared back at me from the page; “a family of four”, “$49 a week”, for groceries, travel and personal expenses. But this is “an average”, so of course for some, they have more…and some have even less.
We got talking about it in our family. We are also a family of four, and something in that resonated. But when we heard about another family in Toronto, (our City Councillor, Joe Mihevc, and his family), attempting to see what it was like to try to live, for one week on $49 for food, travel and personal expenses, we decided to do it too.
For a few years now, it has become a part of our Christmas, as meaningful and rich to us as any of our other traditions. It is a simple exercise in ‘less’; an exercise in simplicity. It’s like a fast. Just as a fast takes the attention off food and eating, this shifts the focus.
For the first week of Advent, from Sunday, Nov 27th, to Saturday, Dec 3rd, begin the Christmas season with a visceral reminder of the poverty that surrounds us. For us it means we will eat more pasta, and little or no meat. We will buy less expensive foods. No treats. Stay away from the ‘convenience food’ and pre-packaged stuff. Fresh fruit is expensive. We won’t drive. And we’ll have none of the little ‘extras’ we just take for granted. And we’ll scrape on every penny we spend on every item. And we will hope there are no emergencies or surprises.
And I’ll be reminded again that I can’t really begin to appreciate what it would be like to live on what our society expects people on Social Assistance to live on, week after week, month after grinding month. For us it’s only a week, but it is a stark reminder of how much we take for granted, and it is thrown in sharp contrast against the Christmas advertising that will constantly surround us at the beginning of December.
Then we will calculate how much money we would have spent in a ‘normal’ week, and make a donation to the Daily Bread Food Bank. We didn’t spend it. We won’t miss it.
I have found this practice focuses the senses and puts some things in perspective at a time of year when I need it the most. I once asked a Muslim friend why they fast during Ramadan. I have never forgotten his response. He said, “so, I will know the taste of hunger in my mouth, and I will have compassion on the poor.”
I am sending this out as a suggestion, a thought, and a challenge. Try to do this for the first week of Advent, Nov 27th to Dec 3rd. Challenge your family, friends and co-workers. Challenge your church; your business associates. Do it together with whatever organization you are affiliated. Then donate the difference to the Daily Bread Food Bank (or whatever charity you like).
Feasting and fasting
I switched the order of the disciplines to land on simplicity on this first Sunday of Advent in order to introduce Joe’s Challenge. Simplicity seems to fit at Christmas in some ways, and in other ways it does not – Christmas is supposed to be a festival, a feast to celebrate. The difficulty is that in historic Christianity, and Judaism, feasts were always matched with fasts: abundance, matched with lack, in order to feel the depth of both. In our society we are encouraged to live in perpetual feast. There are very few things that we only have at Christmas time any more – things like chocolate and mandarin oranges. They aren’t special; we just have more at Christmas. Simplicity and fasting does not rule out the feasts, but the fast keeps the feast special.
All Year Round
We can’t live all the year buying what we need on a welfare budget, and the point of Joe’s challenge is to show us that welfare income is not sustainable. So how do we practice simplicity the rest of the year?
When we are making purchases, ask yourself questions:
Will I own this thing, or will it own me?
How large an ecological footprint does this item leave? How much does creation have to pay for me to have this item? I’m not asking you to do a ton of research (we are trying to simplify) – at least do what you know – drive the smallest car you can, stay away from buying or creating toxins… You may want to choose organics, or go meat free to answer this question.
In Ezekiel 34:18-19, God asks us the question: “Is it not enough for you to feed on the good pasture? Must you also trample the rest of your pasture with your feet? Is it not enough for you to drink clear water? Must you also muddy the rest with your feet? Must my flock feed on what you have trampled and drink what you have muddied with your feet?”
Is there a way to make this purchase further the Kingdom of God? To think this way, we may need to broaden our idea of the Kingdom to include things like good housing and living wages for workers. Just read Isaiah’s description of heaven in Isaiah 65:17-25 and you’ll get the gist.
Use your economics to bring the kingdom
– social enterprise,
– “no sweat” is an organization that helps people be more sure that their products were not made by sweat-shop labour.
There are purchases that you can make that will help charities like Habitat for Humanity; buying building materials at their re-store.
If deals are too good to be true, they probably are. – if the jeans are cheaper at Wal-Mart than the denim to make them is at Fabric Land, you have to assume that the person who made them in the third world is not making a living wage.
Richard Foster has some other basic principles to practice simplicity in the area of possessions:
Buy things for their usefulness, not their status
Reject anything that is producing an addiction in you
Develop a habit of giving things away. De-accumulate.
Don’t believe the hype.
Learn to enjoy things without owning them.
Develop a deeper appreciation for creation.
Reject anything that will breed the oppression of others.
Shun whatever would distract you from your main goal.
If you would like a fuller explanation of these principles, see “The Celebration of Discipline”
Simplicity of Schedule
Even if we don’t try to pack as much worldly possessions into our house as possible, it is easy to try to pack as much as we can into our schedule. We feel that if we are not busy, we must be missing something. We feel that if our children are not involved in hockey, swimming, music, soccer, and tutoring we are depriving them.
Just as we need to reduce the material clutter in our lives, we need to reduce the schedule clutter. The discipline of simplicity is not just buying less; it is doing less as well.
I think that one of the best ways to practice simplicity of Schedule is to take a Sabbath once a week. This is one of the big ten Commandments: “Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy. But I have to confess that Sunday is usually the busiest day of the week and Saturday is usually like any other day.
When we hear about keeping the Sabbath – worship, resting, recreating, giving time to friends and families: keeping it holy: separate, different from the others - we often say, “Oh that sounds very healthy, a really good idea, I’ll give that some thought…” We don’t say that about the other commandments – do not murder, do not steal, do not commit adultery… - “Oh that sounds very healthy, a really good idea, I’ll give that some thought…” But we say it about Sabbath.
Taking a Sabbath is a step of faith that says to God and ourselves – God has given me enough time in six days to get what I need done, I will not miss what he has for me by keeping one day separate. In fact, I may miss what he has for me by not keeping it holy!
Conclusion
Like any spiritual discipline, pride can easily creep in. We can even think we are better than others because we are poorer and forced into simple living. Don’t become proud over what you have, or over what you have given up.
Finally, simplicity should breed the spiritual fruit of joy, not take it away. Like any discipline, simplicity can become a law unto itself and suck joy and life out of us.
Story – from the introduction to “Plain Living”
It has never been easy to lay down an encumbered lifestyle. In the 1600s William Penn, the founder of Pennsylvania, struggled with "cumber" during his conversion from English aristocrat to plain Quaker. He began attending Quaker meetings in courtly apparel, wearing a powdered wig and carrying a sword. The more time William spent with the plainly dressed Quakers, however, the more uncomfortable he became with the clothes he was wearing and the way he was living.
Legend has it that when William asked pacifist George Fox, the founder of the Quakers, what to do about carrying his sword, Fox replied, "Wear it as long as thee can." Fox believed that William would know when it was time to choose a plainer and more peaceful way of living.6 Later on, according to an old journal, William was horseback riding with a Friend when he "suddenly pulled off his (courtly) wig, dropped it on the road, and did not look back to see what became of it."
When we listen within, we too may hear an invitation to lay down our encumbered lifestyle. It is as difficult a decision now as it was in the 1600s. Contemporary life surrounds us with a whirl, wind of constant noise, incessant activity, and meaningless clutter, so it is not surprising that most of us are overextended, chronically tired, and feel weighed down by the pressures we carry. We have chosen lives that crowd our appointment books, fill our email boxes, and overload our answering machines, even as we long for a plainer way of living-one that will free us from the strain and anxiety of these times. The Spirit is speaking through the whirlwind of modern life, and if we listen quietly to the cool, calm Center within, there is an invitation to plain living awaiting each of us.
Resources:
Celebration of Discipline by Richard Foster ©1978 Harper & Row, ISBN: 0060628316
The Spirit of the Disciplines by Dallas Willard ©1988 Harper & Row, ISBN 0060694416
Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life by Donald S. Whitney ©1991 Navpress, ISBN1576830276
Plain Living: A Quaker Path to Simplicity. By Catherine Whitmire. Sorin Books, Ave Maria Press. P. O. Box 428, Notre Dame, IN 46556, 2001. Pp. 192. Paperback, $13.95. ISBN: 1-893732-28-2. Tel.: 800-282-1865.
Rich Christians In an Age of Hunger by Ronald J. Sider ©1977 IVP ISBN 0-8091-2015-1
The Rest of God: Restoring Your Soul by Restoring Sabbath by Mark Buchanan © 2006 W Publishing Group – available in February 1006
The Liberation of Christmas by Richard A. Horsley, ©1993 Continuum ISBN 0-8264-0592-4 (This is an academic book with implications on the meaning and practice of Christmas)
Prayer: Finding the Heart’s True Home by Richard J. Foster, HarperCollins Canada, ISBN: 006053379X
Space For God: Study and Practice of Spirituality and Prayer by Don Postema ©1983, 1997 CRC Publications ISBN 0933140460
The Celtic Way of Prayer: the Recovery of the Religious Imagination by Esther De Waal ISBN: 0385493746
Novels:
Les Miserables by Victor Hugo – the first 50 pages, or so, describe the Bishop who shows Jean Valjean grace. This is a man who has learned to live simply.
City of Joy by Dominique La Pierre
