I read in a book recently how freely giving things away does, among other things, build community. After one week of putting things out for people to freely take, I'm already seeing some examples of how that can happen. Various people (teens and adults) have made comments to my kids when they've seen them here and there: "What's with the free stuff outside your place?" or "It's so cool that your mum is giving things away - I got a really nice top and a good book!" and so on. I've had a number of people tell me "What a good idea." More people seem to be smiling at me. A few have thanked me. Now, I am not in any way doing this to seek glory or even good will for myself, but it is nice to think that the things I don't need can bring a little joy to other's lives.
As I'm sorting through things, I'm finding and releasing a lot of "good books" that I'm never going to get around to reading. But one I'm definitely keeping - in fact, if I had to pack to abandon my home in a hurry and could only take two books, they would be the Bible and this wee gem - is called "In Celebration of Simplicity: The Joy of Living Lightly" by Pen Wilcock. I can't tell you how many times I've read this book over, and yet every time I am encouraged and struck anew by some truth. In this book, Pen takes the making of bread as an analogy to living a life of deliberate, Biblical simplicity, and using each of the ingredients in a loaf of bread, talks about different aspects of the simple life. I'll come back to this book again in the coming weeks, but let me quote a short passage by way of introduction:
Christian simplicity..affects our management of:
Time
Money
Possessions
Speech
Action (output) and information (input)
Relationships
Resources
Our homes
Our transport
The way we dress
As we practice simplicity in a daily walk of faith, its peace percolates through each of those areas. This is not just a hobby, a social trend, or a feel-good undertaking. It is a response to clear scriptural imperatives running throughout the Bible as a while, both Old Testament and New Testament. These imperatives are strongly present in the Gospels, in the teachings of Jesus, where they are central. So we are not talking about minor, peripheral, take-it-or-leave-it issues, but something foundational to being a Christian at all.
The grain of our load is this vision of biblical simplicity; the sense of call in all aspects of our life. The vision has to be present. Simplicity is not easy; it requires discipline. We have to pay attention to the detail of life, think ahead, consider consequences and be aware of our environmental and political contexts, in making the choice of simplicity. When we begin the journey, what it asks of us can seem overwhelming, but as we persevere, a wonderful joy of freedom permeates our lives - a sense of burdens lifted, of more spaciousness than we had ever imagined, the light heart that is necessary to walk gracefully in Christ's strait and narrow way.
Hmmmm....joy....lifted burdens....spaciousness....a light heart. I could do with more of those, couldn't you?
The more I think about, learn about, and study the concept of "Simplicity" from a Biblical perspective, the more I see it as truly something imperative to living the Christian life. Jesus had essentially no possessions, and while we often excuse our own over-abundance by saying "Yes, but we have families and aren't called to itinerant ministry" I don't think that means we're supposed to get and hold on to so much stuff we're unable to minister right where we are!
Come on, be honest...how often have you avoided inviting someone over for a meal because you're ashamed of your chaos? Are you too "busy" trying to deal with your clutter to go play a game with your kids, make a meal for that new mother from church, or write a letter to an elderly friend or relative?
If Jesus speaks to your heart of a need, are you able to say "Here I am Lord - send me" or would your honest response be "Well, I'd love to help, Lord, but first I need to clean up the living room/unearth the bathroom/catch up on the laundry/find the bills so I can pay them..."??
In the immortal words of Jim Elliott, who gave his life to reach the Aucas: "He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose."
All this stuff we surround ourselves with - it's JUST STUFF. None of it has any real lasting value; most of it doesn't even have much present value! It can, however, hold us back from the things of eternal value.
Ready to let go? I am!
The more I think about, learn about, and study the concept of "Simplicity" from a Biblical perspective, the more I see it as truly something imperative to living the Christian life. Jesus had essentially no possessions, and while we often excuse our own over-abundance by saying "Yes, but we have families and aren't called to itinerant ministry" I don't think that means we're supposed to get and hold on to so much stuff we're unable to minister right where we are!
Come on, be honest...how often have you avoided inviting someone over for a meal because you're ashamed of your chaos? Are you too "busy" trying to deal with your clutter to go play a game with your kids, make a meal for that new mother from church, or write a letter to an elderly friend or relative?
If Jesus speaks to your heart of a need, are you able to say "Here I am Lord - send me" or would your honest response be "Well, I'd love to help, Lord, but first I need to clean up the living room/unearth the bathroom/catch up on the laundry/find the bills so I can pay them..."??
In the immortal words of Jim Elliott, who gave his life to reach the Aucas: "He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose."
All this stuff we surround ourselves with - it's JUST STUFF. None of it has any real lasting value; most of it doesn't even have much present value! It can, however, hold us back from the things of eternal value.
Ready to let go? I am!
On Tuesday, I put out 20 more items - 8 items of clothing, 3 pairs of footwear, 5 mini-glasses, 1 book, 1 decorative bucket, 1 plastic container, and 1 molded wallhanging fountain thing that's been on the outside of our house since we moved in. Together with left overs from last week, they proved very popular - when I went to bring in the remainders at the end of the day, only 2 magazines, half a dozen plant pots and a couple of pairs of footwear remained!
I've identified a few more things for sale, but not advertised them yet, so will include them in tomorrow's total.
I've identified a few more things for sale, but not advertised them yet, so will include them in tomorrow's total.
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