Simpler Living, Compassionate Life

The tricky thing about simple living is that sometimes it's a lot more complicated than what the typical anglo-european American lifestyle is. The problem is, that we like to be comfortable in our Suburban homes with our suburban fences, our suburban stores with suburban convenience, and our suburban lifestyles with suburban isolation. It's all too convenient. We buy things that we just have to throw away when we're done. We go home and don't have to talk to our neighbors when we're there. We shop without ever bumping into our neighbors, and we spend without ever having to know where our purchase comes from. It's easy! It's uncomplicated!

As I read Simpler Living: Compassionate Life, I couldn't help but notice that most of the writers were calling us to things that required intentional living. The suggestions therein were not simple in the sense that they made life easier for us. However, the more that I read the reflections and the thoughts of the advocates for a simple life, the more that I fell in love with their stories and their intentional living. Evy McDonald reminded us of how easily we fall into the trap of seeking fulfillment in our jobs and in the acquisition of money. Juliet Schor and Henry Nouwen reminded us that although we may be materially rich, we are poor in the area of time. Cecile Andrews reminded us that in our suburban lifestyles, we've forgotten how to laugh and to enjoy the presence of our neighbors.

There are a couple of themes that really stuck with me after reading this book. The first one is the issue of time. Henry Nouwen writes "In our contemporary society, it often seems that not money but time enslaves us." (54) We often spend this time on the acquisition of money so that we can buy more things, but as Schor poignantly asks "What if our desires keep pace with our incomes, so that getting richer doesn't make us more satisfied?" (33). We put so much time and energy into improving our standard of living, that we've neglected our quality of life. We put in long hours to acquire things that ultimately distance us from the people we love.

The second theme that seemed to run throughout the book was community. Ultimately, it's the people who surround us in our lives that give us the sense of belonging, love purpose that are essential for every human being. Cecile Andrews gives us the best illustration of that by advocating for stronger neighborhoods through community stores, neighborhood centers and more block parties. Andrews writes that these types of establishments help to build community and notes that through these small community businesses, "I can have a great social life on Saturday night just hanging out by the produce." Ha! How often do we seek entertainment by shelling out $10, $20, or even $50? What if we could all just hang out at the produce section and see everybody we need?

Living simple is not as easy as it sounds, but I do think that it makes our lives better: less cluttered, with more time and greater meaning. I think we get more bang for our buck (so to speak) when we learn to do this. I hope and pray that as we grow as a community of faith, we learn how to live better, simpler lives.