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Easter Articles
Simplicity: A Lenten Path Enlarged Print from http://www.upperroom.org/methodx/thelife/articles/lentsimplicity.asp
by Ann Hagmann
No Church season is closer to my heart than Lent. Lent is derived from the
Anglo Saxon word lenctem, meaning spring. The word reflects the
lengthening of days as we move from winter towards summer. Lent is the 40 days
(excluding Sundays) between Ash Wednesday and Easter Sunday. Traditionally it
has been a time of fasting commemorative of Jesus' 40 days of fasting in the
wilderness following his baptism. Lent also recalls the 40 days that Elijah and
Moses both spent with God, as well as the 40 years that Israel spent wandering
in the desert. Lent prepares the way for the greatest observance of the year,
the death and resurrection of Jesus. Following Easter comes Pentecost or the
coming of the Holy Spirit, and Kingdom tide, the post-Pentecost season that
stretches across the summer until the celebration of Christ the King around
Thanksgiving time.
Lent is the perfect season of the year for solitude and self-reflection. As
we spiritually journey into the desert, Lent is a time to reexamine our boundary
lines and get realigned, set in right relationship with God and the world around
us. This year I would like to suggest a Lenten path to travel as the days grow
longer and Easter approaches. That path is one of simplicity.
Simplicity, contrary to the suggestion of its name, is not a particularly
simple or easy way. Life is very complex and the walk of simplicity is
complicated and demanding, but the rewards are a hundredfold. Simplicity is not
about poverty, or a renunciation of possessions, or a set of dos or don'ts.
Rather simplicity is a spiritual discipline that reorients one's life by
deliberately organizing it for a purpose. It is spiritual because simplicity
deals intimately with the beliefs and views that lend shape and order to our
lives. Simplicity is a discipline because we have to work at it and practice it
in order to apply it in our lives. Adhering our life to a focused center reduces
the fracturedness of our lives. Our priorities are aligned to the focus of our
lives, and the way we live out our simplicity in terms of our time, energy, and
money becomes a reflection of our inner beliefs. Each of our paths will be
unique to our situations.
On the most basic level, simplicity means being honest and sincere with
ourselves about our faith and what really matters most to us. Simplicity
requires at least two things: being willing to be vulnerable by embracing
openness to God and to life, and believing it is God's path to abundant life for
us.
If you think simplicity might be a path that you would benefit from
traveling, you can pursue it in any number of different directions. For
instance, your outward expression of simplicity can be material, relational,
financial, or spiritual. By material I mean dealing with the physical stuff in
your life. Is your home full of things that add beauty or function or that
simply take up space and require energy and money to maintain them? Relational
simplicity applies to our relationships with people and time. Do we truly
listen? Do the people who matter most in our lives receive the time and energy
from us that properly reflects their priority to us? How do we use our time? Do
we expend significant amounts of time on unnecessary matters?
Financial simplicity encompasses the way we spend our money and use credit.
Are our financial investments wise? Pleasing to Christ? Helpful to others?
Spiritual simplicity involves our relationship with God and our understanding of
life. It includes honesty and integrity.
Simplicity touches every area of our lives as we open more facets of
ourselves to God and the central value that directs our lives. Pick the area
that draws you the most and begin your journey there, trusting in God's grace
and guidance. Often times it is helpful to use a resource to focus our
devotional efforts. My book Climbing the Sycamore Tree: A
Study in Choice and Simplicity is a useful resource for the faith focus of
simplicity, especially as it affects our economic choices. There are also many
other good books to help guide you.
May the 40 days of Lent enlighten you as you allow Christ's light to shine
more brightly in your lives and lead you into a path of simplicity and abundant
life.
Ann Hagmann is a chaplain for Hospice Austin (Texas) and the founder
of Whispering Hope Ministries for Healing and Wholeness. She worked for more
than 14 years as a manager for AT&T and Southwestern Bell before ordination.
Hagmann served 10 years as a United Methodist Church pastor. She holds a B.A. in
psychology from the University of Arkansas and a D.Min. from Perkins School of
Theology of Southern Methodist University. This article first appeared in
Alive Now online, March/April, 2002.
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