"Tis a gift to be simple . . .

I continue to ponder this idea of simplicity as a spiritual discipline as I sort through what I want need and what I can give up as I make a move to a smaller place. My car is loaded for another trip to the local thrift shop run by the Association for Retarded Citizens. As I have sorted through closets and boxes sorting through there has been, surprisingly a sense of liberation.

During a break . . . I take way too many of these, I revisited the chapter on simplicity in Richard Foster's classic, Celebration of Discipline. Foster defines simplicity as "an inward reality that results in an outward life-style" (69) which leads to freedom, joy and balance . . . not a bad way to live.

"I know what it is like to be in need, and I know what it is like to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well-fed or hungry, whether in plenty or in want. I can do all this through Him who gives me strength. Philippians 4:12

'Tis a gift to be simple,

'Tis a gift to be free

'Tis a gift to come down where we ought to be,

And when we see ourselves in a way that's right,

We will live in a valley of love and delight.

Traveling toward simplicity,

Lydia