Freedom in simplicity

"Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of man has no place to lay his head."- Matthew 8:20

The American humorist Mark Twain wrote, "Civilization is a limitless multiplication of unnecessary necessities." I wonder what old Twain would have said had he been alive today. Never before has the consumer been confronted with so many choices.

An anthropologist friend of mine points out that civilizations tend to move from the simple agrarian society to the industrial, complex society, which eventually collapses under the burden of its own weight and complexity. I think it is fair to say that never before has a generation had more "things" than the present one, yet with all the "toys" which integrated circuits and quartz crystals have presented us–from hand-held computers to digital "you-name-its", we are consuming more aspirin for headaches and tranquilizers for shattered nerves than ever before. If "more were better", then surely we would be on the threshold of an unprecedented utopia, but it just has not worked that way.

Having less means greater simplicity, which produces greater peace of mind and happiness. Some, even in times of poverty, find riches of the soul which money cannot buy. When a builder has a problem with a house he is constructing, he goes to the blueprint. Remember the adage, "When everything fails, read the instructions"? That is part of the reason we need to think through the complexity of our lifestyles and the pressures of living today. We haven’t read or followed God’s directions. We have more of almost everything money can buy but are confronted with leanness of spirit.

Jesus Christ said, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head" (Matthew 8:20). He owned no real estate, though the whole word was His. He borrowed another man’s boat to row on Galilee, though on occasion, when he had no boat, He simply walked on the surface of the water. The only thing that we know for certain which He possessed was a seamless robe, which the soldiers took from Him and gambled to see who would get it.

What did He have that we have never had? Two things: the first was peace and the second, simplicity. It has been my observation that some of the richest men in the world were some of the unhappiest, proving that money cannot buy happiness. John Paul Getty, once the richest man in the world, said he would gladly give all of his money for a happy home; but, of course, he did not take the step to experiment with the possibility.

This is not to suggest that the absence of money–poverty–will produce happiness, but what Jesus taught is that happiness does not come from the abundance of things which money will buy. What He did have, which was desperately need, is simplicity. "Seek simplicity, and trust it," advises Alfred North Whitehead.

Simplicity brings a contentment that puts psychiatrists out of business, along with a host of entertainers and entrepreneurs who are trying to convince us that what we have or what we hear or see will bring happiness. Simplicity begins to put you in tune with the divine harmony of nature–which is not to suggest that God is nature. It simply means that you learn to "be still" and know that He is God, that you shut out the din and noise of stressful living to hear His voice saying, "This is the way; walk in it" (Isaiah 30:21).

Let us strip away the veneer of materialism and discover the simplicity of walking in the footsteps of Jesus Christ. Simplicity demands that we not live beyond our means–financially, emotionally, or physically. It is God’s antidote to the pressures of life. - Resource reading: Matthew 5

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