Live Slowly

	God help us to live slowly: To move simply: To look softly: To allow emptiness: To let the heart create for us. Amen Source: Michael Leunig, The Prayer Tree Add your thoughts at inward/outward

Listening to the necessary

Quote for the day from my daily reading:

The ability to simplify means to eliminate the unnecessary
so that the necessary may speak.

Hans Hoffman

More on Simplicity

We simplify our lives.
We live gladly with less.
We let go the illusion that we can possess.
We create instead.
We let go the illusion of mobility.
We travel in stillness. We travel at home.
By candlelight and in stillness,
In the presence of flowers,
We make our pilgrimage.
We simplify our lives.

Source: The Prayer Tree, Michael Leunig

Granolier than thou...

Wise words from inward/outward today. Simplicity has been a watch word for our family for a couple of years now and we have noticed this creeping into our conversations at times. It used to be "holier than thou" - how quickly it can become "granolier than thou"... living that organic, simple life can be a source of pride too...

Simplicity itself can become an idol resulting in judgmentalism and self-righteousness. That which was initiated out of inner simplicity becomes an external effort to "keep down with the Joneses." That which was meant to be liberating becomes a rigorous list of "simplicity do's and don'ts." That which sprang from a desire to express compassion for those with so little becomes a tool of judgment wielded against those with so much.

On the other hand, simplicity, when combined with genuine Christian spirituality, offers a prophetic, culturally-challenging alternative to the good life. Simplicity stands in quiet contrast to our culture's dominant messages. It reveals and challenges the idols of our day and calls us, individuallly and societally, to live lives of compassionate integrity.

Source: Simpler Living, Compassionate Life, Michael Schut