Quadrascentennial Reflections

Quadrascentennial: 25 years.

This week has been quite momentous. My car's odometer turned over to 18,000 which is always exciting. What's more, it happened right as I was parking so I didn't have to pull out my camera while driving in order to take a snap-shot of the occasion (that's always dangerous!) But probably more significant (at least to anyone who cares more about people than car mileage) is that my odometer hit 9,132 days lived. That's 25 years + a week of leap days for you math whizzes.

Traditionally, the birthday celebrator receives gifts and wisdom from those wiser and more experienced. But on this 25th birthday, I decided to break with tradition and share from the pool of wisdom I've been slowly collecting. I hope you enjoy and its precisely what you wished for (You didn't even have to blow out any candles!).

The one thing that constantly comes back to my attention is the lie that people express in the desire to "simplify life." People are continuously telling me that they wish life were easier. They buy the latest innovation or contraption so that life's tasks can be accomplished more simply. They try every method out there in a vain attempt to simplify life, fooling themselves into believing that's what they really want. 

In reality, people seek to complicate their lives to the point of exhaustion. Now, don't get me wrong; I contend that life NEEDS to be simple and a simple life is not only attainable but essential. But people are constantly confusing their own motives in pursuit of this (seemingly) elusive ideal. 

"I want my life to be simple." so it's filled with methods for attaining simplicity. "I want things to help make life easier." so most time is spent breaking one's back or exasperating one's brain, toiling to acquire these gadgets that serve to frustrate, confound and further complicate life and, in some cases, bring it to a screeching hault! "Sorry, I couldn't do anything yesterday. My phone broke, the internet died and my car is in the shop. Now I have a HUGE amount to catch up on."

Even leisure time is horridly complicated in the name of simplicity. Advertisements constantly competing for attention amidst a 20 minute episode of a favored television show. The internet is unyielding with its barrage of pop-ups and banners assulting the sight of one who simply wishe a half hour escape from the conscious reality of life and its eternal hardships from evading simplicity. There is no relief. Even entertainment has become more of a hassle than a treat. We've done it to ourselves. 

The truth is this, a simple life does NOT equal an easy life. Or, perhaps it should be phrased like this "A simple life does NOT mean a LAZY life." 

The misconception is that a life of simplicity means that one will not have to do much in order to maintain that simplicity. If I hold to a small set of beliefs and follow a minimilized philosophy, then the energy required to maintain such a lifestyle and said philosophy should be minimal as well! Especially with all the new and current tools to help in that pursuit! 

No wonder people spend endless hours wrapped up in entertainment! The realization is that people are not concerned with simplicity but with laziness. People don't want to expend the effort to maintain a meager existence. People are content to BE simple-minded and devoid of the intestinal fortitude to manage a life of simplicity. It takes REAL effort to maintain a life built upon a select set of principles and most people are not willing to muster what it takes. 

Life is not meant to be complicated. Life is meant to be simple (but by no means easy). I follow God. His word says, "Don't lie, be honest. Pursue Justice. Love the LORD your God. Love others." Simple; not overly complicated. No matter the situation, take the effort to DO what is right. There's not really a correlation between doing the easy thing and doing the right thing. There's no app for it, there's no easy button. The simplicity of it simply requires effort. That's the real secret to a simple life. I will never have to worry about how to act, what to do, which choice to make. All I have to worry about it putting for the effort to follow through. 

What so many claim to want - simplicity - is a lie. They want easy. They want whatever will take the least amount of energy or caring or emotional empathy. People want to be generally detatched from responsibility and sticking to the tough calls. Because of that, life is perpetually complicated. People are fooled into searching for something that they're really not and aren't transparent enough to realize what they really need; Simplicity.

Simplicity happens when we stop concerning ourselves with how much doing what's right is going to cost us.