Contemplating A More Simple Life

Lex (left) and Arthur (right) at the 2015 Van Nuys' carnival.

My last post was nearly four years ago.

Wow! Long time no write.

AnyWHO, a lot has happened in the past few years. I won't bore you with all the details. Suffice it to say that it has been quite a journey. Two amazing children. An incredible wife. Job changes. Apartment moves. Even a SuperBowl win for my team. Plenty to celebrate along the way, but plenty to weep about as well. These past few years have been good. Bad. Fun. Sad. Up. Down. The road of life is filled with many unexpected turns; isn't it?

Someone asked me recently about adult life, and my response was that I knew adult life would be difficult. I never had any illusions or - probably more accurately - delusions that it would be less than tough. However, I thought that, even though it would be difficult, it might feel more worthwhile.

Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe I'm alone.

But I don't think I am wrong, and I don't think I'm alone.

Are you there? Is life weighing on you a little too heavily? Are you running so fast that you've lost all track of why you were running in the first place?

I don't believe it's a generalization to say that there are many people racing through their hours, flying through their days, and wondering where their years are going.

Why?

What are we running after? What is the proverbial carrot that makes us chase the wind so vehemently? Are we making the chase more difficult and less worthwhile than it should be?

Maybe this type of thinking was birthed out of the Enlightenment that so heavily influenced the early development of Western culture. I don't know, but I do know that there is an insidious ideology that says, accomplishment = meaning.

That mantra has also, seemingly, become a part of American ideology. Could it be that the highway we take for the "Pursuit of Happiness" is paved with good intention? Is this the dark side of Capitalism?

Look - I'm not trying to get political. I'm getting existential. I'm wondering if the subtle indoctrination of accomplishment that seems to be so prevalent in our contemporary culture is running us ragged and stealing what should be a more worthwhile life-journey.

I feel like I even see this accomplishment = meaning ideology creeping into the Church (capital 'C'):
"You can do great things for God!"
"God has huge plans for you!"
"Go ahead and dream big because that dream was placed in you by a big God."
Etc, etc . . .

It's even made it's way into how we talk to our kids. We tell children that they can be whatever want. We fill their heads with tales of fictitious superheroes, and we elevate the celebrity lifestyle to god-like status. All the while, we tell our children that they can chase their passions, and we tell them that the sky is the limit. We lift their ambitions to the stars above them before their feet are even firmly planted on the ground below them.

I wonder if we would be more content if we just chose a more simple life.

This is a radical line of questioning, and it begs many questions about everything we've ever known.

All these questions, though, can't help but make me think about Jesus.

I can't help but think He was about daily spending time alone with His heavenly Father. He was about simply BEING with people. He went from place to place seeing how He could serve - whether by preaching or healing. He really had no agenda other than to pour Himself into His disciples and into others. He is a perfect picture of everything opposite we do now. He didn't spend His time chasing great accomplishments . . . and He seemed fairly content. As a matter of fact, I might even say that He is the ideal example of true, Exceptional Living.

Think about what a more simple life might look like for you. Think about how simplicity might serve your contentment. Share this blog with a friend. Ask each other questions. Discuss. Take time. Contemplate your contentment.

Perhaps if we weren't so busy trying to accomplish something great, life might actually feel more worthwhile. Maybe if we took pleasure in the little moments, then the hours, days and years wouldn't seem to fly by so quickly. Maybe.