Do you long for life to be simpler and for you to feel freer? Do you wish there was less to do and more time to be? Our lives often feel full to overflowing with responsibilities, commitments, extra curricular activities, our various roles, all the toys and equipment, etc. As Joanne Heim writes in "Living Simply", our lives, schedules, closets, homes, cars and to do lists are full! We long for a day when we won't be so busy and feel overwhelmed and pressed for time.
As we read excerpts from Joanne's book, the question she raises is this, "Is this the kind of abundant life Jesus really meant when He said "I have come that they might have life, and have it to the full?" (John 10:10). She comments on the Message's paraphrase of Jesus words,that he came to bring "More and better life than they ever dreamed of", saying "We have the more, we're full to the top--but is all this crazy busyness what we dreamed of as little girls? Did our Barbies rush around their Dream Houses worried about getting Skipper to soccer practice on time, burning dinner for Ken, and wishing for life to slow down?"
Cleaning a few closets doesn't quite do the trick..."our calendars, commitments, activities and to-do lists" leave us feeling "stuffed" like too much Thanksgiving dinner! She reminds us that we are conditioned to be consumers and need to remind ourselves to be thankful, commenting with a quote from Robert Benson that "Some have so much, in fact, that if we are not embarassed about what we have compared to what others do not, we ought to be." Choosing less is a daily challenge wherever we are. It is like going against the flow.
But how simplicity? And why simplicity? Joanne discusses the idea of looking at quality of life instead of quantity. A life more focussed on family than getting things completed and making memories rather than being perfect. Filled with more meaning and less stuff. Joanne asks the question "Does abundant/overflowing mean full to the brim with not enough room for more? Or does it mean filled with open space...filled with joy and things that make it worth living?"
In concluding she writes about how she has lots of stuff and it isn't doing the trick. A life with God's abundance, with "His love, presence, and grace... overflowing from her life into the life of others" is what she is looking for. She writes "Our culture has determined that abundance has to be material stuff, and we have bought into it. We've chased after quantity instead of quality, never stopping to see that abundance of nothing is still nothing." In ending her chapter, Joanne reminds us that God has a way of turning things upside down..."The last will be first. The rich will be poor. The least will be greatest." And she encourages us that the more she cuts out, the more she simplifies her focus, the greater the abundance becomes".
So here is the question ..are we living life to the full... or just a full life?
AND here is something to think about, "Our lives can hold just so much. If they're filled with one thing, they can't be filled with another. We ought to do a lot of thinking about what we want to fill them with." Maud Hart Lovelace
(excerpts from "Simple Abundance" in Joanne Heim's book "Living Simply")
As we read excerpts from Joanne's book, the question she raises is this, "Is this the kind of abundant life Jesus really meant when He said "I have come that they might have life, and have it to the full?" (John 10:10). She comments on the Message's paraphrase of Jesus words,that he came to bring "More and better life than they ever dreamed of", saying "We have the more, we're full to the top--but is all this crazy busyness what we dreamed of as little girls? Did our Barbies rush around their Dream Houses worried about getting Skipper to soccer practice on time, burning dinner for Ken, and wishing for life to slow down?"
Cleaning a few closets doesn't quite do the trick..."our calendars, commitments, activities and to-do lists" leave us feeling "stuffed" like too much Thanksgiving dinner! She reminds us that we are conditioned to be consumers and need to remind ourselves to be thankful, commenting with a quote from Robert Benson that "Some have so much, in fact, that if we are not embarassed about what we have compared to what others do not, we ought to be." Choosing less is a daily challenge wherever we are. It is like going against the flow.
But how simplicity? And why simplicity? Joanne discusses the idea of looking at quality of life instead of quantity. A life more focussed on family than getting things completed and making memories rather than being perfect. Filled with more meaning and less stuff. Joanne asks the question "Does abundant/overflowing mean full to the brim with not enough room for more? Or does it mean filled with open space...filled with joy and things that make it worth living?"
In concluding she writes about how she has lots of stuff and it isn't doing the trick. A life with God's abundance, with "His love, presence, and grace... overflowing from her life into the life of others" is what she is looking for. She writes "Our culture has determined that abundance has to be material stuff, and we have bought into it. We've chased after quantity instead of quality, never stopping to see that abundance of nothing is still nothing." In ending her chapter, Joanne reminds us that God has a way of turning things upside down..."The last will be first. The rich will be poor. The least will be greatest." And she encourages us that the more she cuts out, the more she simplifies her focus, the greater the abundance becomes".
So here is the question ..are we living life to the full... or just a full life?
AND here is something to think about, "Our lives can hold just so much. If they're filled with one thing, they can't be filled with another. We ought to do a lot of thinking about what we want to fill them with." Maud Hart Lovelace
(excerpts from "Simple Abundance" in Joanne Heim's book "Living Simply")
