Lost baggage

It seems to me that the truest measure of forgiveness is not how we feel about the person we have forgiven but how we perceive and treat the next person. If we have let go of what happened, then we can relate to other people without emotional baggage. That seems to me to be a clearer indicator because the original relationship may be cluttered with all kinds of mixed feelings and history. It's easier to step back and assess the new relationship with a bit of detachment. Does all this energy really belong to this new situation?

The Equilibrium Point

The other day, I read a post saying that all things are junk, that everything is worthless. In the eternal sense, I agree with that; we really can’t take it with us. But while we’re still here on earth, I think this stance misses something important: gratitude. We can’t avoid having to own and use things, however few or simple. We are forced to deal in the physical realm, despite our being at our core spiritual beings. To despise physical things as meaningless puts us in conflict with reality and creates needless guilt. The first goals of minimalism, especially as it relates to the spiritual life, are gratitude and contentment. Yes, it’s also vital to keep from developing an unnatural clinging to things, or putting an undue value on them, but it is in these qualities of gratitude and contentment that the balance is found. This is real freedom.

"Even" Jesus was a minimalist

I read recently in a minimalist blog that “Hell, even Jesus liked the idea of voluntary simplicity.” I would ask you to consider two ideas; firstly, Jesus didn’t just like the idea, He lived it and taught it:

Jesus replied, "Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head." (Matthew 8:20)

Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. (Matthew 6:19-23) 

Secondly, Scripture also says that He actually invented everything that stuff is made of:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. (John 1:1)

Does this really sound like someone who was borrowing an idea? Food for thought.

The Remains of the Tea

After I’ve given an afternoon tea and it’s all over and everyone’s gone home, there is a particularly sweet time in which my guests' presence is still felt in my house. I think back on the giggles and the confidences, the little moments of connection. I like to take time to sit and enjoy that feeling of satisfaction, like a warm summer evening fading into darkness. It’s a part of the event, much as the last note dying away into silence is part of the music.

100 or bust?

I’ve been following several minimalist blogs for some months now. It seems that arguments have arisen about the “100 Thing Challenge”. Some think this is obsessing over counting possessions, while others insist that it’s meaningless unless one actually maintains the goal of 100 things or less. I think that reducing belongings is an important starting point (whether it results in owning 100 things or not), but it’s ultimately only a tool to transform one’s thinking. At first, you will focus on sorting and deciding, but hopefully that process gets you thinking differently about having and buying stuff, which then frees your attention to focus not on things but on doing and being. This is why some minimalists say that the number is not really important.

I have heard monks conducting services in which they periodically chant, “Let us be attentive.” This is an important spiritual concept, and it applies to minimalism as well: where is your attention and energy going? If a minimalist is agonizing over buying that 101^st object, then his attention has now shifted back to things. If he doesn’t take up photography because it means owning a few more than 100 things, then minimalism has restricted him instead of freeing him up, and that’s missing the point.

As Bob Luman once sang, “Let’s think about living, let’s think about life”.

One common mistake people make when moving

What I’m about to say seems incredibly common-sense, but I have seen people make the same mistake time and again. The first day that you think you might be moving, go into your bathroom and look at your shampoos/conditioners/body lotions, etc. Do you have multiple bottles going? Are there some you could finish off before you move? Then go into your kitchen and do the same thing. How many half-eaten boxes of cereal, pasta, etc do you have? Anywhere you have supplies, go look! I see people looking shell-shocked by it all, because their mindset is that since those rooms are packed last, they don’t need to be dealt with until the day before the move. By then, of course, it’s too late. They have to either throw out usable stuff or pack/move/unpack it. They also have to dispose of things at a time when the recycling bin and the garbage can are probably at capacity.

So think about it early and save yourself time, effort and money!

The Golden Rule Restated

It seems to me that in dieting, as in every other area of life, it is essential to apply the doctrine of grace. God treats us with grace, and the Bible makes it clear that we are to extend grace to others. Why, then, should we not extend that to ourselves? Unless we are to speak kindly and forgivingly to ourselves when we eat something that isn’t edifying, our efforts at eating better will inevitably end in failure. After all, in this endeavor, we are dealing constantly with our inner child. It’s pointless for people to argue, “Don’t you want to be healthy?” That isn’t the issue; everyone wants to be treated well, even by their own inner parent. If the choice is between harsh criticism and fun, well, the inner child will make a quick decision!

It isn’t about being self-indulgent. Rather, it is a matter of saying, “All right, that wasn’t your finest hour, but let’s start now to do better. I know you can do this.” Anything else just leads to further rebellion.

I don’t think we can separate how we treat ourselves from how we treat other people. The harshest critics I know are unflinching in their disapproval of their own mistakes. I think they tell themselves that it’s all right to come down hard on other people if they also do it to themselves, but I think too that there’s a corollary of the Golden Rule that applies here: “Do unto yourself as you would have your neighbors do unto you.”