My Thoughts on Simplicity

Simplifying your life isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. (I know that’s a cliché but I don’t care). Earlier today I thought maybe I’d write a blog about 7 Ways to Simplify Your Life. I’ve been studying how to write blog headlines that attract more traffic. I could do that, but quite frankly, the thought of it makes me gag.

For one thing, I’m realizing that I don’t care about marketing, or platforms, or attracting followers, as much as I care that my life is making some kind of difference in this crazy, beat up world we reside in. I hunger for the same things most of you long for: peace, a loving family, enough food for the week, and that my life reflects all the things I’ve said I believe for fifty years or more. I don’t want to be considered a Christian atheist or a fan and not a follower any more than you do.

The truth is…I don’t want that much anymore. It’s not that I’m too tired, or old, or uninterested. It’s that life for me has become much more simple. Some of that is because I’ve pursued simplicity intentionally, and some of it is just where I am in life now. But whatever the reason, I have picked up a few good thoughts along the way that I’d like to share today. So here goes…

It’s okay if things are a bit disorderly, as long as my heart is calm. My yard, for instance. I came from pristinely manicured Naples – the haven of landscape businesses. About 1500 last time I asked. And I now live in a tiny hamlet of a town where I have to admit the medians are better looking than larger Sebring, but no comparison to what my yard used to look like. What I see out the window now is a bit on the wild side, but it’s free-flowing and happy. There’s little grass in the back yard – probably three different kinds – and it’s mixed with some dollar weed and a bit of that ground cover with the little yellow flower. But when it’s mowed and the candles are lit on the deck and friends are talking and laughing, it looks just beautiful to me. Simplicity can mean you aren’t so persnickety about stuff anymore.

The same goes for friendships and valuing family moments. What my grandchildren think of me carries a lot more weight than other people’s opinions. I’ve spent years trying to be who people thought I should be or wanted me to be. I was probably a tad hooked on pleasing people. But when I turned 60 something snapped. I didn’t turn into Cruella, but neither did I care so much what anyone thought. I’d finally come to a much better understanding of what God thought and that was enough.

I posted a C.S. Lewis quote to that effect on FaceBook earlier this week with a question attached. Not one person responded. I don’t think they got it. He said, “The fundamental thing is not what we think about God, but what God thinks about us.” I’m sure most people who read that quote think it’s saying something about measuring up, fitting God’s standard. It isn’t saying that at all.

What it’s saying is that God loves me and thinks I’m wonderful. He chose me, shaped me, ordered my DNA package and is very pleased with the results. And that’s what’s really important. Simplicity often requires me to release toxic friends and cultivate in-depth relationships. Simplicity is being content with what God thinks of me.

Simplicity isn’t always about re-organizing the closets as much as it is de-cluttering the mind. Though it still seems like brazen effrontery I actually sit out on my deck in the middle of the day and read. I know there’s laundry, and I forgot to take the fish out of the freezer for dinner, but I’m learning to ignore those urgent but not important voices screaming in the background. They never shut up, you know, so you just learn to ignore them like you did when your three year old threw a tantrum because you didn’t give her that second Popsicle.

Simplicity, it seems, has a lot to do with choices – what I read or eat, who I spend time with, and how I choose to cash in these last cherished years. Can I still advance God’s Kingdom when I’m 75? Will I still practice the presence of Christ when I’m eighty and don’t walk too steadily? Will loving Him be foremost in my thoughts when my mind starts to wander?

These are things I think about when I take time to reflect on the meaning of my life. A simple life is a good life – lived out from the heart, saturated with grace and good friends, investing in mission, and always, always, giving thanks to Him for all of it.