Jesus, cast a look on me. Give me sweet simplicity. Make me poor and keep me low. Seeking only Thee to know.

Thursday, September 17, 2009

The Discipline of Simplicity II

10 principles of sIMPLICITY:
*To experience the liberating spirit of simplicity will [produce an outward expression].
*Beware of the risk of these "principles" deteriorating into legalism.
{We have been freed from that by the blood of Christ-wooohooO!}

1. bUY tHINGS fOR tHEIR uSEFULNESS
rather than their status. Cars should be bought for their utility , not their prestige. Consider your clothes. Most people have no need for more clothes.

{The Lord is rEALLY convicting my heart on this one!!}

Buy what you need.
Wear your clothes until they are worn out.
Stop trying to impress people with your clothes and impress them with your life!

2. rEJECt aNYTHING tHAT iS pRODUCING aN aDDICTION
Eliminate, or cut down, on the use of addictive, non nutritional drinks: coffee, alcohol, tea, soda, and so on.

{Does that include my Route 44 Vanilla Coke from Sonic?? boo.}
If you have become addicted to tv, by all means, sell it or give it away.
Refuse to be a slave to anything but God!

Definition of addiction-anything that is beyond our control. Look for undisciplined compulsions.

{Lordy, lordy I have seen some of those!!!!!!!!!!!!!!}

By the way, resolve of the will alone will fail every time. Open a corner of your heart to the healing power of God's grace.

3. dEVELOp a hABIT oF gIVING tHINGS aWAY
DE-accumulate!
Masses of things that are not needed complicate life!

4. rEFUSE tO bE pROPAGANDISED bY tHE cUSTODIAN oF mODERN gADGETRY

huh?

Hear this-"time saving" devices sometimes don't save time!
Look for toys for kids that are educational and/or durable. Make some yourself!

5. lEARN tO eNJOY tHINGS wITHOUT oWNING tHEM
Go to the beach and marvel at God's majesty; without feeling the urge to buy a beachfront condo.
Public libraries.
Parks.
Take a walk.

6. dEVELOP a dEEPER aPPRECIATION fOR tHE cREATION
Listen to the birds.
Feel the texture of the grass.
Smell the flowers.

Ps. 24:1
"the earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof"

7. look with a healthy scepticism at aLL 'bUY nOW, sAVE lATER' schemes

Luke 6:35
"lend, expecting nothing in return"

8. oBEY Jesus' iNSTRUCTIONS aBOUT pLAIN, hONEST sPEECH
{LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE that so much that I have to say it again...}
PLAIN
HONEST
SPEECH

Matthew 5:37
" Let what you say be simply 'yes' or 'no'; anything more than this comes from evil."

If you consent to do a task then do it.
Avoid flattery and half-truths.
Make honesty and integrity to distinguishing characteristics of your speech.

Reject jargon and abstract speculation whose purpose is to obscure and impress rather than to illuminate and inform.

9. rEJECT aNYTHING tHAT bREEDS tHE oPPRESSION oF oTHERS
Do we sip our coffee and eat our bananas at the expense of exploiting Latin American peasants?
rACISM
sEXISM
nATIONALISM

10. sHUN aNYTHING tHAT dISTRACTS yOU fROM sEEKING fIRST tHE kINGDOM oF God
{There's nothing I can add to that.}


Simplicity is openness, unself-consciousness, naturalness.
Where simplicity abounds, words can be taken at face value: there is no hidden agenda.
And, yet, simplicity is not synonymous with 'easy to understand'.
Jesus was not easy to understand, neither was Paul, but both were characterised by simplicity of speech.

-adapted from Celebration of Discipline

2 comments:

  1. Thanks, Amy, for the reminder and the condensed version. I really appreciated your taking the time to write these two posts --I'm carrying around Foster's words (and Jesus' of course) anew.

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  2. Great post! I really need to read this book. These are great points to focus on in my journey also for simplicity.

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