A Simple Path

Sometimes I just want simplicity. In the midst of day to day living, sometimes it's just good to pull back, remember the simple things and let go of whatever is complicating mind, soul or body. Near the end of our vacation last week until now, that's what I've focused on in my daily devotionals. Maybe it was reading of the Lewis and Clark Expedition and realizing that not even 200 years ago, this wild west was nothing but wide open spaces with nothing. There were no Costco's, Starbucks, Kohl's or Walmart. Westernization has filled in the rest of the west. And you know...it's not necessarily bad (except what we did to the Indians to get here), it's just the way things have happened going west. Simplicity is something I'll probably always be chasing in this lifetime. So quickly my mind, my soul, and most importantly my appetites want to complicate things and draw me away from the simple life. Mother Teresa is someone I've always admired and respected for her simple love and her simple life in India. She has lived this simple kind of life and faith, the kind I'd like more of in my world. Simple faith. Simple love. Simple hope in a loving God. On a side note, I love food, all kinds of food, but sometimes that can turn into gluttony. Overeating and gorging myself on the fat of the land when others have nothing. Delicious meats with cheese and sauces, tasty wines and of course the new found love for that bar that I came to love in Europe - the Magnum. I forget the simple life when I eat, eating just to live instead of living to eat. There's something about cutting back and not focusing on foods and their deliciousness sometimes that is, for me, tied back into living a simplified life. Maybe that's where fasting even comes in. We don't live for bread. There's so much more. I love understanding - things, people, this world in general. But sometimes I gorge myself on thoughts that are too much for one brain to try and pursue. I get nervous, anxious, frustrated, all up in my head. Sometimes it just boils back down to simple love and letting go of everything else. And here's why I love the Mother T. ".....As we grow in our love for God, we grow to respect all He has created, and to recognize and appreciate all the gifts He has given us. Then naturally, we want to take care of all of them. God made the world for the delight of human beings - if only we could see His goodness everywhere - His concern for us, His awareness of our needs...I believe there's no such thing as luck in life. It's God's love, It's His." What does this have to do with simplicity? I think it's going back to thanksgiving. To taking care of ourselves and our loved ones by focusing on simplicity.