The Gift of Simplicity

Who is rich?  He who rejoices in his portion.

The Talmud

Our society in the recent past became a consumer culture.  People were concerned with “keeping up with the Joneses.”  They were concerned with having more and getting more. Advertisers played into and increased this desire to own, to have something better.  They created a desire to have the best.  They certainly made us want things we hadn’t even known existed.

While we are still bombarded constantly with “buy it now” messages, the consumer culture has cooled.  This is because we are in the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression. Fortunately, every cloud does have a silver lining.

The silver lining of economic loss is emotional and spiritual gain.  We have gained the chance to savor a simpler lifestyle.  It is the lifestyle of our grandparents and great-grandparents.

The famous photographer, Edward Steichen, described the “sweet simple things in life” that they knew.

“The boy and girl going hand in hand through a meadow; the mother washing her baby.”

There are so many beautiful things for us to enjoy every day.  I think of:

playing ball with our dog

sharing a laugh with my husband

giving our babies, big and little, smoochy kisses

eating dark, decadent, delicious chocolate

visiting with a friend

spending time with my daughters

photographing flowers

As Robert Louis Stevenson said,

, “The best things in life are nearest:  Breath in your nostrils, light in your eyes, flowers at your feet, duties at your hand, the path of right just before you.  Then do not grasp at the stars, but do life’s plain, common work as it comes, certain that daily duties and daily bread are the sweetest things in life.”

The sweetness of the simple things in our lives is in sharp contrast to the hurried, worried acquiring that can leave only the “desolation of an empty abundance.”  (Michael Harrington)

Rejoicing in the simplicity of our lives is a sacred gift.  I wish you countless sacred gifts.

Tags: God, sacred, sacred gifts, simplicity

This entry was posted on Monday, August 9th, 2010 at 1:32 pm and is filed under Inspiration, spirituality. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.