I just can't seem to get this "simplifying life" thing out of my head.
Been reading some home and office organizational stuff on www.realsimple.com.
I have also been taking some careful stock on all the "stuff" I own but do not use.
That list is still growing, and is much, much too long.
Don't know yet what event, thought, person, thing, action has been the catalyst for my feeling the need to address simplifying life. Several things actually have worked together to guide me down this path.
Perhaps this also comes out of my desire to do something different during Lent this year.
I do know one thing . . . that for some reason, the thought of simplifying life has something to do with the idea of ridding one's life of clutter. I think Lent is the same sort of thing . . . a specific period before Easter when we focus on removing those things in our lives that keep us from the full relationship with Christ which God desires for each of us.
I went to the Dallas RV show this past Saturday. Walked through some neat campers. Years ago, before I started working on Sundays, my family did a lot of camping, especially on the weekends. I enjoyed camping . . . still do.
At the RV show, we came across some campers designed for year-round living.
Amazing . . .
I began to wonder . . . if I sold my house . . . and we moved into a camper (a "Walden" sort of thing) . . . it would mean that I would have to pair down my possessions to a bare minimum . . . because a camper will only hold so much supplies and equipment. We are talking about the "essentials" here.
I mean, a couple pair of bluejeans and dress slacks, and 4-5 shirts would just about fill the closet up. There is room for TV, but it would have to be small. The entire camper would have to become multi-functional . . . or at least I would have to start thinking that way . . . seeing how a space could be multi-functional.
So, the issue now becomes not "what clutter do I throw away?", but rather "what essentials do I keep?"
Or rather . . . what are the things I really need to survive, and be happy, and be at peace with myself and my neighbor?
Now this entire issue of simplifying life becomes a much more difficult to do.
Amazing . . .
Perhaps it is not all about removing the clutter of life to find what is most important . . . but instead our knowing what is important despite the clutter . . . and holding fast to it.
Do I know what is important in my own life? Well sure I do . . . at least I hope I do . . . I ought to know what is important . . . I mean, doesn't my life witness to what I hold as being important?
Ouch! Let's don't go there. Point taken and accepted!
Perhaps the clutter in our lives . . . in my life . . . is nothing more than an extra weight I have to carry, for some reason, by my own choice . . . which witnesses that I may not have as much faith in my "important stuff" as I thought.
Yep, definitely time for a long hike out at the lake. This is going to require an extra bit of focused "pondering" about some things . . .
And, I tend to hear God's voice better when I am hiking. And I would like His advice in all of this.
This is going to take a while . . . and I need still to get the advice of other people I know have travelled this path some already.
This is going to be a journey . . . and that, for me, is what Lent is all about.
God's grace still amazes me . . . ><>
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