"When we are truly in this interior simplicityour whole appearance is franker, more natural.
This true simplicity...
makes us conscious of a certain openness,
gentleness, innocence, gaiety, and serenity,
which is charming when we see it near to and
continually, with pure eyes.
O, how amiable this simplicity is!
Who will give it to me?
I leave all for this.
It is the Peal of the Gospel.
This true simplicity...
makes us conscious of a certain openness,
gentleness, innocence, gaiety, and serenity,
which is charming when we see it near to and
continually, with pure eyes.
O, how amiable this simplicity is!
Who will give it to me?
I leave all for this.
It is the Peal of the Gospel.
-Francois Fenelon
Richard Foster, in his book Celebration of Discipline has provoked quite a bit of reflection within me this week. In one of his chapters, he's dealing with the practice of simplicity. In the midst of our progressive culture, much anxiety is the end result.
"Freedom from anxiety," Foster writes, "is characterized by three inner attitudes. If what we have we receive as a gift, and if what we have is to be cared for by God, and if what we have is available to others, then we will possess freedom from anxiety.
However, if what we have we believe we have gotten, and if what we have we believe we must hold onto, and if what we have is not available to others, then we will live in anxiety."
"Freedom from anxiety," Foster writes, "is characterized by three inner attitudes. If what we have we receive as a gift, and if what we have is to be cared for by God, and if what we have is available to others, then we will possess freedom from anxiety.
This is the inward reality of simplicity.
However, if what we have we believe we have gotten, and if what we have we believe we must hold onto, and if what we have is not available to others, then we will live in anxiety."
1 comment:
Simplicity for adults may be found in Psalm 100:4-5
"Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. For the LORD is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations."
Upon invitation, however, do we in fact "enter". If we do how so? Probably not like this.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=xRYU4cqUAUs
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