Simplicity

It is said that when Saint Augustine died, he had nothing but his writings and few clothes. Everything he had belonged to the monastery. To practice simplicity does not require a vow of poverty, but it does suggest moving away from a lifestyle that is focused on possessions into a lifestyle of less. Doing more with less means having fewer things around us to care for so that more of our attention may be toward God and people. If I didn’t have to mow the lawn, that’s forty minutes I could give to something else. But we must be careful about extremes. Because it is during that very forty minutes that I can often be in solitude and silence with God as I follow my noisy mower, oblivious to everything, except the row of grass that I am cutting. It’s about attitude, and asking: Can I do without this thing?”