Simplistically speaking…

From the mouth of Henry D. Thoreau…

“Simplicity, simplicity, simplicity! “Still we live meanly, like ants; though the fable tells us that we were long ago changed into men; like pygmies we fight with cranes; it is error upon error, and clout upon clout, and our best virtue has for its occasion a superfluous and evitable wretchedness. Our life is frittered away by detail. An honest man has hardly need to count more than his ten fingers, or in extreme cases he may add his ten toes, and lump the rest.

Simplicity, simplicity, simplicity! I say, let your affairs be as two or three, and not a hundred or a thousand; instead of a million count half a dozen, and keep your accounts on your thumb nail. In the midst of this chopping sea of civilized life, such are the clouds and storms and quick-sands and thousand and one items to be allowed for, that a man has to live, if he would not founder and go to the bottom and not make his port at all, by dead reckoning, and he must be a great calculator indeed who succeeds. Simplify, simplify. Instead of three meals a day, if it be necessary eat but one; instead of a hundred dishes, five; and reduce other things in proportion.” Henry D. Thoreau, Walden, Where I Lived, and What I Lived For, p. 56

What an excellent quote!  Thoreau had his mind and heart in the right place.  This life is not about material things and superficial relationships…its about loving others, building strong relationships, serving God and spreading His Word.

I’ve been feeling the call for a more simplistic life for quite a while now, especially after spending the last two weeks in Russia.  It was great to spend the last two weeks without a cell phone, computer or ipod…it reminded me of life before these distractions.  Don’t get me wrong, technology has a lot of benefits and I don’t want to necessarily give them up, but I do want to let go of some of my dependence on them.  I have felt so distracted lately and have longed to live my life more simplistically.  I’m tired of debt, junk and clutter.  I just want to go to work and come home and not think about work.  I want to spend time with the people I love and not feel rushed to be somewhere else all the time.  I want to live my life not knowing or caring what is on t.v.  I want more free time and clarity, so that I can study and live out God’s Word. I want to live out the rest of my years doing things that matter, instead of rushing through it all just to get to the end and wish I had taken it slower.

It feels so wonderful to have a fresh perspective on things and I pray that I keep my mind and heart clear so that I don’t lose it.  God is so good!