And, as I said on Sunday, simplicity is patient.
I don't like feeling like I'm giving away my moments, my seconds and minutes and hours, because someone else wasn't ready, or wasn't prepared, or made a mistake - even though there are countless, countless times when someone else is the one waiting for me, because I wasn't ready, I wasn't prepared, I made a mistake. I want them to be patient with me, but at the same time I think that my time is somehow too valuable to be patient with someone else.
Which, of course, is foolish, arrogant, and just puts me in a bad mood. And it's not living in simplicity. Simplicity holds the gift of time lightly, gratefully but without having to grab at every second. Simplicity is happy to give time away when it's right and good.
So as I prayed for guidance about simplicity, I found God guiding me to a practice of remembering and considering the Fruits of the Spirit (from Galatians 5) - love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Patience is in there, but it's helpful for me that patience isn't there all by itself. It's a part of living in simple love for those around me.
Today I printed up a few copies of the Fruits of the Spirit. I'm going to put one in my office, one on the bathroom mirror so that as I'm getting ready for the day, I can get my heart ready too. I've got a couple of other places in mind as well.
What is Simplicity?
This past Sunday in church we explored a working definition of simplicity: "A way of living in which everything we have we receive as a gift, everything we have is cared for by God, and everything we have is available to others when it is right and good" (Richard J. Foster, Freedom of Simplicity). Click here for more information, including a fun word search! Click here for some practices you might try related to simplicity.
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