"When we are truly in this interior simplicity our whole appearance is franker, more natural. This true simplicity . . . makes us conscious of a certain openness, gentleness, innocence, gaiety, and serenity, which is charming when we see it near to and continually, with pure eyes. O, how amiable this simplicity is! Who will give it to me? I leave all for this. It is the Pearl of the Gospel."
-François Fénelon
If you have not already purchased, Celebration of Discipline by Richard Foster, then you should, if only to read the chapter on Simplicity. All I can say is wow! His insights are undeniably true and kicked me in the backside something fierce. With that said and in the spirit of simplicity, I've decided to take a week off of the blog and Facebook. If you need me, you'll also most likely know how to get a hold of me. Check back in a week for the rest of this post!
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I'm Back! Twas a lovely week off. I usually try to stay up and type after the kids have gone to bed and Adam is strumming away on the guitar. Instead of typing, I slept and got some much needed rest. Posting is not that easy for me to get back into at the moment. Me and Remy were reading Charlie and the Chocolate Factory before bed, and Mike Teavee was just shrunk down to the size of an action figure. They had to bring him to the stretching room. The night before Veruca Salt went down the trash shoot. Remy did not take kindly to that and we had to skip a good deal of the chapter. I'll try my best to not be so scatter-brained but if I start typing about Oompa-Loompas, you'll know why.
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The first time I read the chapter it seemed to have a very blunt and powerful message exhorting it's readers to shun materialism. After re-reading it several times I've come to understand that Simplicity is simply freedom. It frees us from the ties that bind so that we are available to truly seek first the kingdom of God. That point should have been obvious given the first three words of the chapter, "Simplicity is freedom." The voracity with which Foster denounces materialism in our culture almost causes you to believe, at first, that freedom is from materialism itself. He even states, and I believe rightly so:
"We really must understand that the lust for affluence in contemporary society is psychotic. It
is psychotic because it has completely lost touch with reality. We crave things we neither
want nor enjoy. 'We buy things we do not want to impress people we do not like.' Where
planned obsolescence leaves off, psychological obsolescence takes over. We are made to feel
ashamed to wear clothes or drive cars until they are worn out. The media have convinced us
that to be out of step with fashion is to be out of step with reality. It is time we awaken to the
fact that conformity to a sick society is to be sick."
I think part of the reason he attacks materialism so intensely has to do with Thomas Kelly's concept of "The Divine Center." The idea is that God should be the "unity and focus around which our lives are oriented." Simplicity allows us to put God in his proper place in our lives. Foster argues that, "because we lack a divine Center our need for security has led us into an insane attachment to things." In most cases we don't have to look much farther than ourselves to realize this is true.
The thing is, the ties that bind are not always material. For some it's anxiety, depression, control, pride, substance abuse, hidden sins . . . Personally, and it's the one that kicked me on my backside, is the fear of man. Foster said it perfectly; "One moment we make decisions on the basis of sound reason and the next moment out of fear of what others will think of us." I hate this about myself. I try really hard not to be this way but it's often in the back of my mind. It never surfaces when it comes to important matters but it always nags at me when I'm doing the most inane thing; posting Facebook statuses is a good example. I've even considered deleting Facebook but that wouldn't get to the root of the matter. Adam and I were talking about this the other day. He doesn't have an issue with the fear of man and I was hoping for some wisdom. I walked away from that conversation with some serious insight. Years ago when Adam became serious about his relationship with God, his friends walked away from him. There's two sides to every story and I suppose they might argue that Adam walked away from them. Fair enough. The point is, Adam considered these guys to be his brothers. When he stopped showing up on Thursday nights for their usual shenanigans, not a single one called to ask why. Their moms are friends and they heard through the grapevine that Adam became a Christian; only one friend attempted to talk to him about it. Adam was besides himself with grief that the friendships were over and he had lost his brothers. Since then the Lord has given Adam new friends and has begun to heal the broken friendships. It came as somewhat of an epiphany; Adam doesn't have the fear of man because he's already been rejected because of his faith, I never have. Isn't that what the fear of man is really about? If people find out how much I love Jesus, they won't want to be my friend anymore; then I'll be alone and I don't trust that God will have my heart in his hands when this happens and I don't trust that he'll bring new, true friendships into my life. So maybe the fear of man is not trusting God? These are the things I'm working through right now to find freedom, to find Simplicity. I want to seek first the kingdom of God, regardless of what other people say, however brutal and heartless their comments are. The comments that get me the most are when acquaintances say, people who believe in God are ignorant and close minded. That sort of thing does nothing more than reveal the condition of their own heart, but the words still hurt because it's simply not true.
To get back to the idea of trust in relation to Simplicity, Foster focuses in on anxiety. Let's just go ahead and lay this down; if you're anxious about something then you're not trusting God with it (to clarify, I'm not talking about anticipation). With that said, lets look at what Foster has to say about this. "Freedom from anxiety is characterized by three inner attitudes. If what we have we receive as a gift, and if what we have is cared for by God, and if what we have is available to others, then we will possess freedom from anxiety. This is the inward reality of Simplicity." I would even go on to say that if you practice those attitudes, you'll be freed from much more than anxiety. Although Simplicity is considered an outward discipline, it is merely the fruit of an inward reality. At the end of the chapter, Foster give ten suggestions for starting on the journey towards Simplicity. I'm just going to list them but if you're interested in going more in depth, Foster does expound on these ideas in the book.
"First, buy things for their usefulness rather than their status . . . Second, reject anything that is
producing an addiction in you . . . Third, develop a habit of giving things away . . . Fourth,
refuse to be propagandized by the custodians of modern gadgetry . . . Fifth, learn to enjoy
things without owning them . . . Sixth, develop a deeper appreciation for the creation . . .
Seventh, look with a healthy skepticism at all 'buy now, pay later' schemes . . . Eighth, obey
Jesus' instructions about plain honest speech . . . Ninth, reject anything that breeds the
oppression of others . . . Tenth, shun anything that distracts you from seeking first the
kingdom of God."
I know I've talked a lot about first seeking the kingdom of God. That's the point of all of this and if we don't keep that in proper perspective then these disciplines can easily enslave us and turn into death-giving laws. Matthew 6:33 says, "but seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well."
"In a particularly penetrating comment on this passage of Scripture, Søren Kierkegaard
considers what sort of effort could be made to pursue the kingdom of God. Should a person
get a suitable job in order to exert a virtuous influence? His answer: no, we must first seek
God's kingdom. Then should we give all our money away to feed the poor? Again the
answer: no, we must first seek God's kingdom. Well, then perhaps we are to go out and
preach this truth to the world that people are to seek first God's kingdom? Once again the
answer is a resounding: no, we are first to seek the kingdom of God. Kierkegaard concludes,
'Then in a certain sense it is nothing I shall do, Yes, certainly, in a certain sense it is nothing,
become nothing before God, learn to keep silent; in this silence is the beginning, which is,
first to seek God's kingdom.' "