The Grace and Discipline of Simplicity

Why would you choose a life of simplicity? Doesn’t that sound a bit like choosing a life of mediocrity? Is simplicity equal to a life of doing and being barely enough? If that is how we understand simplicity, then we never really grasped what simplicity was meant to accomplish. 

Simplicity is born out of wonder. As we increasingly wonder at this life that we have been given, as we increasingly become aware of the meaningful things happening around us and the potential of beauty inside of us and others, we live lives that point to these things.

A simplistic life is a focused life, where we choose against clutter and distraction…because that is not where the beauty of life is found. This kind of authentic, organic simplicity enables us to live generously and meaningfully. Some of life’s heroes were people who lived simply; not because they didn’t have or achieve much, but because they had the single-mindedness to focus on what mattered most.

I have learnt from my own life that the behaviour that we want to change the most in ourselves and others, has little to do with the act itself, and a lot with the intention behind it. Slowly but surely, our attention gets drawn away from what is truly meaningful, beautiful, and important. Our behaviour is seldom the main issue, but the fact that we get distracted from something better. We stop being mindful of the main things and allow peripheral things to become the main thing.

Richard Foster speaks about the paradox that simplicity is grace but also a discipline. We receive the capacity to live lives of simplicity. It isn’t something that we can attain or achieve, it is given to us freely by a gracious God. But it is also a discipline to live simply. Our attention and our practices help us to live simply. The more we focus on and practice what is meaningful, beautiful, and important, the more the gift of simplicity will flow through our hearts, minds, and bodies. 

Your life should matter, just like the lives of every created being around you does. Therefore, don’t allow distraction to side-track you. Be mindful of what you have been given, and what potential you have to offer. But also remember: your life is a gift. Your breath was given to you by the very breath of God. Your breath matters. Let that be your compass to live a life that moves and makes a difference.