keep it simple stupid

Some devotional thoughts on “simplicity” in Every Day With Jesus by the late Selwyn Hughes. What follows was passed along by the good bishop for us to consider as we enter the season of Lent and journey toward Easter.

To discipline ourselves to live more simply is perhaps one of the most demanding of all the spiritual exercises because it strikes at the very heart of our desire to have an affluent lifestyle.  We must be on our guard against legalism, of course, for it is possible to have an outward form of simplicity without the inner reality.  Simplicity begins on the inside and works itself out.  Permit me to give you some suggestions as you seek to discipline yourself to adopt a simpler lifestyle.

1) Seek first the interests of the kingdom.  Let nothing come before your concerns for the kingdom of God, including the desire for greater simplicity.  When the kingdom is your first priority then it will be much easier to evaluate what needs to be kept and what needs to go.

2) Examine your life to see if complicated motives are producing anomalies in your attitudes and acts.  Are you a person with mixed motives?  Then that produces complications.  Are you at war with yourself?  Purify your motives inside and your conduct too will be right.

3) Resist all attempts to persuade you to buy things for their status rather than their usefulness. An outspoken friend of mine told me he stayed in the home of a couple where there were ten rooms.  “Why do you need ten rooms for just two people?” he asked.  “It feels good,” was the reply–an emotional response to a rational question.  Beware of feelings that override your common sense.

4) Be alert to the possibility of becoming addicted to things.  If there are things you find you cannot do without and they are not necessities – things like television, new fads, and so on – then be ruthless with yourself and give them up.  Be a slave only to Jesus.

5) Cultivate a way of thinking that says not “What can I keep for myself?” but “What can I give away?”  Take a look in your wardrobe.  Can you see anything there in good condition which you rarely use?  Give it to someone who is in need.  The big word in the area of simplicity, says Richard Foster, is “De-accumulate.”  When we hoard things we don’t need we complicate our lives.  They have to be stored, sorted – and dusted!

6) Refuse to be taken in by fast-paced and clever advertising.  Develop a more critical attitude to what is pushed at you by television and the rest of the media.  A sense of responsibility to the environment would lead us to reject half of the gadgets on sale in our shops today.  And whatever you do, adopt a healthy skepticism to the phrase “Buy now – pay later.”

7) Cut out all affectation in speech and act.  Go over your life and decide that everything you do and say will be true.  Abandon such ploys as talking for effect and using weasel words.  Live honestly before everyone.  Decide to be fundamentally simple and you will be fundamentally sound.  Then you will be able to say: “I have stilled and quieted my soul: like a weaned child”– weaned it from all that is complicated. (Ps. 131:2)

cracking the covers

i wanted to read more widely this year – push myself into literary parts unknown. a resolution of sorts. here’s what i have tackled so far:

1. Great Expectations, Charles Dickens (1861) — A classic, as they say. Not sure how this one stacks up against other Victorian novels but i really wasn’t expecting the odd characters and weird circumstances encountered by the protagonist in this coming of age story.

2. In Persuasion Nation, George Saunders (2006) — Fiction. Short stories, letters and other tidbits from the advertising-saturated world of the not so distant future. Interesting and entertaining some of the time, tedious and boring in other stretches, often infuriating and disturbing. Read it on whim. Anyone heard of this author?

3. Endurance: Shackleton’s Incredible Voyage, Alfred Lansing (1959) — The true story of a 1915 south polar expedition gone wrong and the leader, Sir Earnest Shackleton, who brought all his men home safe almost two years later. An incredible adventure tale of 27 men pushed to their limits and then beyond. Couldn’t put this one down. My Dad’s library is full of this stuff and I can finally share his appreciation for all things Shackleton.

4. Summoned to Lead, Leonord Sweet (2004) — Hadn’t read any leadership material or Leonard Sweet for years. Some solid content for sure, however Sweet is definitely a fan of milking the metaphor inside out (and then inside out, again!). His case study on Sir Earnest Shackleton got me reading the actual accounts. Only half done and not sure I’ll finish.

5. I’ve got another Shackleton account on the go. Pretty similar to Lansing’s work with more pictures and less detail. The Endurance, Caroline Alexander (1998).

6. Wishful Thinking, Frederick Buechner (1973) –Buechner is pretty much my favourite auther, at least in the realm of theology. This one’s an A-B-C of faith, a short dictionary of Buechner’s thoughts on some of Christianity’s best, deepest and darkest. I use it as a reference for sermons and pure interest. Borrowed from Queens’ and renewed 20 times or something!

Stuff in the dock… Just started The Meaning of Jesus by Marcus Borg and NT Wright. Two scholars with two visions of Jesus. Meaty. Will take some time. Someone has also handed me a book by John Piper that I will probably read to say I did. Also have Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment waiting to be cracked.

I’m always open for suggestions.

generous much?

came across this tidbit on financial giving…

The Fraser Institute has released the 2011 Generosity Index report which shows some troubling trends in Canadian philanthropy. The latest report shows a decline in both donations and donors across the country and a continued trend of lower levels of giving in Canada compared with the U.S. One of the key benchmarks of the Generosity Index is the percentage of income donated to charity by individuals. Compared with the previous report, philanthropy declined in nearly every province and territory, with an overall rate of giving of just .64% of income. Giving varies significantly by region. Of the provinces, Manitobans were most generous, donating .89% of their income. Quebecers continue to donate the least, dropping since the previous report to .30%.