Chapter 37 - Simplicity

Chapter 37 simplified our view on Simplicity using 7 Bible passages, as follows:

Luke 18:18-25
Matthew 6:25-34
1 Thessalonians 5:12-28
Luke 9:18-27
3 John
Matthew 18:1-4
Luke 12:22-34

(Note: If you would like to look up these passages online, there are many online Bibles you could use. Here is one link: http://www.studylight.org/.)

Invocation:

“Strengthen me, O God, by the grace of your Holy Spirit; grant me to be strengthened with might in the inner man, and to put away from my heart all useless anxiety and distress, and let me never be drawn aside by various longings after anything whatever, whether it be worthless or precious; but may I regard all things as passing away, and myself as passing away with them. Amen.” (Thomas à Kempis in Little Book of Prayers)

Hymn:

The hymn for Chapter 37 was “Close to Thee” by Fanny J. Crosby. (If you are not familiar with the song, just Google the hymn name and you will get multiple sources to read and/or hear it, as well as its history.)

Benediction:

“Grant me, O Lord, to know what I ought to know, to love what I ought to love, to praise what delights You most, to value what is precious in Your sight, to hate what is offensive to You. Amen.” (Thomas à Kempis in Little Book of Prayers)

Meditation Selections:

The meditation selections included excerpts from the writings of Gontran de Poncins, Evelyn Underhill, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Albert E. Day, E. B. White, A. W. Tozer and Jean-Pierre de Caussade. (Googling their names may give you some insight into their backgrounds and experiences, if that's of any interest to you.)

Some of the interesting quotes from the meditations included:

· “… He lived, he sustained himself, by prayer. Had he been dependent only upon human strength he would have lived in despair, been driven mad. But he called upon other forces, and they preserved him.”
· “Consider that wonderful world of life in which you are placed, and observe that its great rhythms of birth, growth and death – all the things that really matter – are not in your control. That unhurried process will go forward in its stately beauty, little affected by your anxious fuss. … Discern substance from accident. Don’t confuse your meals with your life, and your clothes with your body. Don’t lose your head over what perishes. … The simpler your house, the easier it will be run.”
· “The life of discipleship can only be maintained as long as nothing is allowed to come between Christ and ourselves – neither the law, nor personal piety, nor even the world.”
· “Simplicity means ‘absence of artificial ornamentation, pretentious styles, or luxury.’ It is ‘artlessness, lack of cunning or duplicity.’ … Simplicity does not mean ‘easy to understand.’ … Paul was not always easy to understand. Nor was Jesus. … Their intention was not to confuse or deceive but to clarify and illumine.”
· “Acquisition goes on day and night – smoothly, subtly, imperceptibly. I have no sharp taste for acquiring things, but it is not necessary to desire things in order to acquire them. Goods and chattels seek a man out; they find him even though his guard is up. … Under ordinary circumstances, the only stuff that leaves a home is paper trash and garbage; everything else stays on and digs in.”
· “Our Lord referred to this tyranny of things when he said to his disciples, ‘If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.’ … Jesus called it ‘life’ and ‘self’, or as we would say, the self-life. Its chief characteristic is its possessiveness…”
· “There is nothing more certain to resist the wiles of the flesh than simplicity…”

What do any of these quotes (or any of the meditations in Chapter 37 not quoted) mean to you? Please post your responses to the blog site:
(http://lhcndeeperlifeclass.blogspot.com/).

Thanks for your participation.
John