Mans Search For Simplicity...

Finding the way back…

The breeze was cool on his face… as he wiped the sweat from his brow… From the hilltop, he gazed out across the fields… he and the boys had been out since sunrise working this land… a land that was good, fertile and produced a great crop… looking up, he was thankful…

A gentle nudge on his neck interrupted his thoughts… Smiling, he turned acknowledging his boy’s, and reaching into the satchel giving each an apple…stroking their necks, telling them they had earned a break, and smiling, gently pulling on the lead, as they began walking toward the house…

"...convinced that a man may be as happy without bustle as with it. ... undisturbed by worldly hopes or fears relating to myself, I am completing the number of days allotted to me by divine goodness."
— John Dickinson, Letters from a Farmer in Pennsylvania(1767)

Same hilltop, same farmer… same horses… many years later… Still standing, still watching… stoically, his weather worn hand wiped the tear as it traversed his cheek… God alone knew his pain…

Staring at the clouds of dust now trailing the iron horse that moved quickly across the field…the soil no longer fertile, just a dead lifeless patch of ground, surviving and producing only with the gallons of chemicals and fertilizers it needed to do so…

The same gentle nudge… smiling, as his remorse faded, he turned giving each their apple, stroking their necks as he had for so many years… thoughtfully, gently pulling on the lead as they headed back toward the barn… for the last time…

Kitchen windows open, the last rays of sunlight disappear… I listen to the wind blowing through the trees, sipping on a cup of herbal goodness, my eyes narrowing as the steam rises from the cup…

Thoughts drifting, I recall in my youth a somewhat heated discussion between my grandfather and his youngest son… I imagined this scene between my grandfather and his team of Percheron’s…

Simmering on the thought, I couldn’t help but realize, nothing has really changed… The world has traded the simple for the bottom line… and those who were part of the simple left to fade into eternity…

“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

— Matthew 6:19-21

Consider the Following Example

It began as a simple cup of coffee shared at days end, the dusty trail behind, the campfire in front, a shot of espresso shared at a corner cafe before the workday started, or a morning break in the tea fields with smiles of friendship over fresh cups of green leaves…

It created a time to rest, relax and just breathe… a time to connect, create, and to foster relationships… a time to reflect, unwind and engage in genuine conversation…

Now, instead of resting, we’re running… Instead of stopping, we drive through…The only thing we generally connect with are our phones, and genuine conversations amount to Herculean feats of thumb wielding taps to a virtually invisible counterpart…

The simple, traded for the complex… the connection, for the clicks, the relationships for the reviews and the love for the likes…

The intimacy has become the crowd, the peacefulness and purity of those moments left behind for the breathless pursuit of profit… in an ever increasing world of side hustles, posts, videos and podcasts…

“Hope is like the sun, which, as we journey toward it, casts the shadow of our burden behind us.” — Samuel Smiles

Rays of Hope

Admittedly, on a grand scale it would seem there would be no return… the simple, slow and rewarding fruits of both our labor and leisure have been forever drowned in the ever increasing vast ocean of the internet and our society as a whole…

However, as the world turns, there are small, but noticeable changes happening that give me hope, both in the natural rhythms of human and spiritual life… (the following isn’t fiction)…

• A couple in a coffee shop physically looking at each other, smiling as they both shut off their cell phones, and touching one another’s hands as they engage in thoughtful conversation…

• Witnessing a young man, stopping on a street, putting his cell phone in his pocket to help an elderly lady pick up her groceries from the ground that had fallen from a broken bag, and put them in her cart…

• Watching two young adult boys, set down at a coffee shop table, turning off their “flip” phones… yes, flip phones and pull out an actual physical chess board to engage in a game or two…

• Most encouraging of all, witnessing during a weekly morning bible study at a local coffee shop, the number of people of all ages setting down with Bibles open studying and discussing Gods Word…

These are literally just a few examples, yet evidence of the recognized need for God in our lives, for balance in the everyday rhythms, and a return to common sense…

God I believe, through His Word is opening eyes and hearts to His truth for eternal life, the need for repentance, restoration and the grace for the journey…

Generally speaking, a return to simplicity in all areas of life that help us slow down, see those around us, and truly appreciate and value them for the unique qualities God created them with…

"True life is lived when tiny changes occur." Leo Tolstoy

The Way Back…

I’ll admit, It’s easy to talk about, present examples of those who are putting action to their desires, and to read about it… much harder to actually do…

At the same time, attempting to change everything at once is usually a futile approach seeming to inevitably end in failure… most everyone is busy in their own ways and attempting to change your whole pattern of life overnight is nearly impossible…

However, with small intentional steps and steadfast determination, we will not only be part of the change, we will begin to see it in ourselves and the world around us…

So tomorrow morning when you wake, make the first thing you do something meaningful to you… instead of reaching for your glowing paper weight…

Seems like a small, insignificant thing yet can make a profound difference in the start to your day… for myself, incorporating this change has been meaningful…

The first thing I do after ignoring the urge to retrieve my phone in the other room, is standing in the kitchen, cracking the blinds and grinding my beans while thanking God for His many blessings… then moving to the table to read His Word to start my day…

This one small change, has helped with other desires to scroll less, read more and be more intentional with my time around technology… to find good balance…

For you it might look different, but whatever it is start with small, manageable changes today…

Until next time my friends,

Raj