THE PATH OF A PEACEFUL LIFE.
A simple life is an important part of being a peacemaker.
A simple life has God as its center and one main direction, to serve Him.
It is a plan, consciously made, to have the physical part of life under discipline so that there will be more time for the spiritual.
There should be time to say my prayers and meditate, time for family, time to read or study.
But garden, house and job are also ways of loving God and showing this love. I should, of course, have some concern for the well being of others as well as my own.
My Fair Share of the World's Resources
As there get to be more and more people and fewer and fewer resources in the world, there is more competition, more violence expended to acquire them. The peaceful way is sharing. There would be plenty to go around if I take only my fair share, what I need, and share with others who do not have enough.
I have to have material possessions but they should not determine my worth as a person; they should not be the most important thing in my life. At a Quaker discussion of this question a 400 foot living space was suggested as a fair share. So I bought an old 10 by 40 trailer. That's not much space. I have to admit that the first thing I thought about was adding a porch.
Of course, I must only take my share and leave the shares of others alone. I must do this if I want peace, not war, some chance for people's dreams to come true for themselves and their children.
The other side of sharing is not taking more than my share in the first place. I should, of course, give back to the earth whatever I can by recycling, composting, improving the soil. For many persons living the simple life there is a reverence for nature, seeing God in his works. With this reverence comes a responsibility for the proper use of the world's resources.
One aspect of being created in the Image of God is that I try to make ecologically sound decisions - organic gardening, no more poisons, recycle, compost. Along with this reverence for nature may be the wish to be as self-sufficient as possible.
A simple life plan includes sharing food and clothing with others as I have it to spare and they need it. But most often in our society today the need is for money or the need can most easily be met by giving money.
We should not make ourselves wards of the state. However, this puts a tremendous responsibility on us. If WE call the shots, listen to OUR conscience, go with OUR experience, decide just what is needful and what OUR share is and how much WE should share with others, it's easy to be very SELFISH, to make all OUR decisions to OUR own advantage.
Fox says that WE won't do this if WE apply to that which is pure within US.
Lets hope he is right.
John Woolman, the eighteenth century Quaker mystic and social idealist, is one of the best example of living the simple life. I think that he makes it sound easier than it is though. But as I grow older and my children are all grown, I do think that if not easier, it is at least possible to think about living a simple life. But John's life shows me the spirit in which mine should be lived. He pricks my conscience and inspires me to do better things in the world while showing me that one person can make a difference
ReplyDeletePeacemaker
God is a God of order, balance and harmony. I need balance, order and harmony in my life. I need to serve God and do His will. Part of this service, but not all of it, is earning a living and caring for my family.
ReplyDeleteI shouldn't use all my time and energy doing this though.
Peacemaker
My goals must be realistic. Like cutting down on the amount of trash I produce. As I don't have a public trash collecting and recycling system, I must set up my own.
ReplyDeleteOf course, if I buy anything, get a newspaper, magazines, I will have trash. The amount of trash that my husband, our cat Vashti and I can accumulate in one week seems enormous.
However, if I cut this by 50%, I will have done a good thing. If everyone would do this, it would be wonderful.
Peacemaker
Listener says: Neither poverty nor austerity in itself constitutes the simple life. Almost by definition, the person suffering from poverty wants to acquire as much as he can. Austerity can be meaningful if it is practiced for the sake of a greater good (see Francis of Assisi), but practiced for itself it makes a prideful bore. The simple life is a matter of reasoned restraint, and may show itself in a number of ways.
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