Live Simply

On the evening news one night last week, there was a segment about a young man who was trying to live with 100 or less items in his life.  He is part of a growing movement of people who focus on simplifying their lifestyles, whether from personal principles or economic necessity.  He had actually succeeded in decreasing the amount of stuff that had previously burdened him down.  Yet, he was living a comfortable and adequate existence.

It reminded me of a priest friend from years past.  His goal was to be able to move everything he owned in his car when he was transferred from one assignment to another in his ministry.  Obviously, because he always lived in parish accommodations, he did not need to own, and therefore move, furniture, appliances, etc.  However, he did limit his personal belongings, library, other stuff to what he could transport in his automobile.

Such simple living has many benefits and advantages.  Besides providing the opportunity to counteract the greed and acquisitiveness that is part of our human nature and certainly our society, this choice to live simply brings great freedom of spirit.  All the energy that would be spent in collecting and protecting our stuff can now be spent in other more lofty endeavors such as serving other people.

When we journeyed through our Hurricane Experience, we found that changed our lifestyle.  What a blessing that has proven to be as we now enjoy a much more simple life.  The beauty, joy and peace of God's world have become much more evident.  The time My Love and I have for each other and our families has multiplied.  We appreciate the freedom that is ours because of our simpler existence.  We obviously have not reached the point of living on 100 or less items.  However, the definite choice to downsize has reaped a harvest beyond measure.

To see suggestions about Living Simply So That Others May Simply Live, go to this website: http://www.suite101.com/content/living-with-less-a279107.  There are many other sites that can be googled for more information, but this one is a good place to start.

Potluck Picnic

Where are your fireworks this year? In a nearby town? By a lake? Out in the backyard? Or in your heart?

Since this is our first 4th of July in Iowa, we are thrilled to have the opportunity to join with other members of the family for the traditional picnic at the home of My Love's brother, Don. While in Texas, we heard each year about the wonderful and enjoyable time everyone had, tasting all the great food dishes on the potluck table and swapping lies.

We will be taking with us My Love's parents who have been annual participants for many years. When they lived in Texas with us, it was always understood that they would embark on their trek north to Iowa in time to be present for this Jefferson, SD, gathering. So, they will be functioning as "guides" to show us newcomers the ropes.

What a beautiful way to spend a day: giving thanks for our freedoms and our families. We will also be praying for those who are protecting our freedom in far away places, and sacrificing their own family time while they do it.

Finally, we will be praying for our nation, that we can return to the faith and family values upon which we were founded. May God bless us all. We need it.

How To Flush a Toilet

The first time I traveled to Africa in 1975, it was an eye-opening experience for me. Because this was my first time outside the USA, I was confronted with many new realities, and many familiar realities viewed in a new light. There were about 16 of us traveling together in a group. We had spent several weeks in Germany, a few days in Rome, and finally ended up for a couple of weeks in Tanzania, East Africa.

When asked to summarize my experience on our return to the States, I said: "There are many ways to flush a toilet." What I meant was that throughout our travels, I had discovered that in each country, in each culture, there were differing ways of doing things. Each country had developed certain systems for dealing with human problems, issues, needs and struggles. Some of them may have worked more successfully than others. Some may have been more complicated than others. Some may have been more expensive than others. But in the end, they all seemed to serve the needs of the particular people involved. No one way was better or worse than any other.

That was a life-changing experience for me because it helped me to let go of a certain judgmental outlook on life and people. Who was I to decide that life had to be a certain way? Who was I to judge how others dealt with the issues of daily life? Who was I to say that the way we do things in the USA is the best or only way to live life?

In the ensuing years, I believe that that attitude of letting others be has broadened. I find myself more willing to let others be themselves rather than what I think that they should be. I don't find the need (as much) to shape them into my idea of who or how they should live. And what a freeing development that has been. Since I have resigned as Master of the Universe, my stress level has decreased significantly, and my level of peace and joy has risen out of sight. When I let God be God, and let others be themselves, then I can be myself, and be at peace with that.

Forgiveness Brings Freedom

Several days ago I was speaking with a man at the Wellness Center where My Love and I try to exercise 4 or 5 times a week. This fellow, whom I had only met for the first time the day before, was complaining loudly and at length about a perceived injustice that he had experienced from a local business. The longer he waxed on about this the more upset he became. When asked if he had spoken to the management about this, he said he had, but did not get the desired response from them. So he said that his plan was to "tell everyone he met" about his problem. He didn't want to "get over it", he wanted to "get even".

Since that encounter with him, I have been reflecting on how easy it is to imprison myself in the bondage of resentment. By hanging on to perceived injuries, I am the only one who continues to suffer; I am the one who gives the past its hold over me by continually pumping life into it in the present moment. I grant others power over my behaviors and reactions by keeping the supposed injury alive in my consciousness. I am the one who repeatedly tears open the wound of a long-past situation thereby preventing healing from taking place.

Only in forgiveness can I let go of hurtful experiences and be free of the influence that they wield over me. Only in the act of forgiving another can I break the bonds that enslave me to the past, thereby freeing me to experience the new life that the present holds out to me. As I open my hands to release the past pain, I ready myself to grasp the gift of peace God is offering right now. God lives only in the present, not in past hurts, nor in future worries.

At times I don't even WANT to forgive the other person. Then I must begin by praying for the grace to want to forgive. When I reach the point of desiring to forgive, then I soon realize that the actual pardoning of another is not just a once-and-for-all event. Sometimes this letting go must be done over and over again in order for it to sink to the roots of the injury.

For a beautiful, descriptive presentation of the freeing power of forgiveness in our lives, pick up the book, The Shack, by William P Young. It depicts the journey from bondage to freedom that is available to each one of us when we are open to the mystery of God's healing love.

What past hurtful moments/events come to your mind without effort? Is this the time that God wants to help you let go, to forgive? Is now the opportunity for new freedom?

Needs, Wants, Desires

For the last 5+ months I have been working in an auto dealership as Financial/Business Manager. It has been a challenging, stretching, educational and enjoyable time as I've been learning a whole new culture, vocabulary and system. Plus I've had the pleasure of working with some friendly people.

The owner/manager, my boss, often says that people have "needs, wants and desires". Because of this, they will be around to purchase new or at least different vehicles. Some need a different car or truck because their present vehicle has died, been wrecked, or is otherwise unserviceable. And they still need to get from point A to point B.

Others want a different vehicle because they've had the current one too long, it's too big and uses too much gas, or for whatever reason they have found to justify/rationalize this purchase.

Finally, some people just desire a new/different car or truck for no reason at all. But they are able and willing to make a purchase at this point.

These three groups of people make the auto business possible because here in rural Iowa, there is no public transportation available, and people still wish to travel outside their homes. No one is ready to accept a future of staying at home.

All this set me thinking about the present economic crisis in which we find ourselves embroiled. Perhaps one of the good things that is going to come of it is that people will once again learn to distinguish between their needs and their wants/desires. With the limited resources facing us, personally and as a people, perhaps we will discover that our needs are really very few. Not much is required to meet the real needs of our life.

It seems to me that many people have backed themselves into a financial corner because they have confused their wants with their needs. By becoming slaves to their own wants and desires, they have put themselves on an endless treadmill with no end in sight.

Our wants and desires stretch beyond the horizon, thereby making us restless and unhappy. Modern advertising paints a continually changing picture of unlimited wants and desires. Confusing our wants/desires with our needs only stirs up dissatisfaction and discontent with our present situation since it is impossible to satisfy them all.

This is not to say that we should not have dreams or goals. Nor is it to say that we should be satisfied with being less than our best. Obviously, God calls us to be all that we have been created to be, to use our gifts and talents for others, for the good of the world. But part of that process is to be able to distinguish between our own needs and our wants or desires.

If we can learn to focus on meeting our needs, and being satisfied when that has happened, wouldn't we be much more content? Wouldn't it be great to be free of the pressure of the unlimited wants/desires created by modern advertising? Wouldn't we be more ready to notice the needs of others and work to help them?

Where are you on the needs/wants/desires spectrum? How can you learn to distinguish between them and grow in freedom?