Element 5: Simplicity of Life

We wish to "live simply that others may simply live," to avoid any sense of judging one another; and God will make different demands of each of us. Our common responsibility is to regularly hold before God (and as  appropriate to share with our Soul Friend) our income, our savings, our possessions, conscious that we are stewards, not possessors of these things, and making them available to him as he requires. A simple lifestyle means setting everything in the simple beauty of creation. Our belongings, activities and relationships are ordered in a way that liberates the spirit; we cut out those things that overload or clutter the spirit. We are not seeking a  life of denial, for we thoroughly rejoice in the good things God gives us. Our clothes and furniture should reflect God-given features of our personalities. There is a time to feast and celebrate as well as to fast. Our commitment is to openness. We stand against the influence of the god of mammon in our society by our lifestyle, by our hospitality, by our intercession, and by regular and generous giving.

It's not about the money. Really. Of course, the element of simplicity of life might be easier to deal with if it was. All the elements of the Aidan Way are about the way in which we live our lives. The actual how of that way depends on our circumstances. The fifth element of the Aidan Way is about attitude, not cash.

The first attitude we address is that of ownership.  Our common responsibility is to regularly hold before God (and as appropriate to share with our Soul Friend) our income, our savings, our possessions, conscious that we are stewards, not possessors of these things, and making them available to him as he requires. We are like stewards placed in charge of a wonderful estate. We are free to enjoy the fruits of the land, the buildings and the grounds. But a steward manages an estate for someone else, one who is the true owner. At any time the owner may direct the steward to feed the poor, to let fields lie fallow, to provide hospitality to guests or to give charge of certain assets to others. We therefore seek to change our attitude of ownership regarding homes, vehicles, and all other "possessions" to that of being a steward of God's resources.  So long as we try to possess what belongs to God, we make the possessions a god in our lives and what we try to possess ends up possessing us. Jesus warns of this reversal of value: "No  one can serve two masters; for a slave will either hate the one and love the other, or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth."

The next attitude is that of the simplicity of creation. A simple lifestyle means setting everything in the simple beauty of creation. Our belongings, activities and relationships are ordered in a way that liberates the spirit; we cut out those things that overload or clutter the spirit. Jesus here encourages us: Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are  you not of more value than they? And can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life? And why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you--you of little  faith? Much of modern life is taken up with what to do with our 'stuff.' We need more closets, three car garages, bigger homes and even rental storage facilities because this 'stuff' has overwhelmed our lives. To challenge the attitude behind the collecting of stuff means to be honest with ourselves about what we truly need and what we often want. How much of what we have collected is an effort to control life itself, to create illusions of permanency and insulation from need? Once we see the way that we have been captured by artificially created needs, we can find a starting point for simplification.

The final attitude is that of the celebration of what is.  We are not seeking a life of denial, for we thoroughly rejoice in the good things God gives us. Our clothes and furniture should reflect God-given features of our personalities. There is a time to feast and celebrate as well as to fast. Celtic spirituality, both pagan and Christian, is a creation-affirming spirituality. We not only acknowledge the innate goodness of that which, at the end of each day of creation, God has pronounced good, we also receive the beauty and wonder of creation with thanksgiving and gratitude. Our intent that our clothing and furnishing reflect our redeemed personalities means that we must refuse to allow the fashions of the moment to define us.

With these attitudes in our hearts we stand as signs of contradictions in a consumer society and make the acts of contradiction; hospitality, generosity, simplicity and other-centeredness, the style of our lives.