There is beauty in simplicity

Good morning everyone,

Our theme for this month: “Great thoughts from great Christians”

Our Bible verse for today: ‘God made us plain and simple, but we have made ourselves very complicated.” Ecclesiastes 7:29 (TEV)

Our thought for today: “There is beauty in simplicity”

The older I get the more I find myself valuing simplicity. In my personal life, in the life of the church, in the practice of the Christian faith, simplicity can be of great value and can make things better. If we allow it to, life can become very complicated. And generally, the more complicated it gets, the less we enjoy it. The more tangled and frenzied our affairs become, the less time we spend savoring and enjoying life.

G.K. Chesterton lived in England from 1874-1936. He was perhaps the most prolific Christian writer of his day. He was the author of over 100 books. He also wrote newspaper columns, magazine articles, and he was a popular speaker. Chesterton was a very large man – robust, enthusiastic, jolly, and fun. He had a sharp wit, great humor, and was sort of the British version of Mark Twain. He had something to say about everything from Christian apologetics, to politics, to social issues, and more. He even wrote a popular detective series known as “The Father Brown” detective stories.

Chesterton was also an advocate of simplicity. He believed there is goodness and beauty in simplicity that is missed when life gets too complicated. He once wrote, “The thing I mean can be seen, for instance, in children, when they find some game or joke that they specially enjoy … Because children have abounding vitality, because they are in spirit fierce and free, therefore they want things repeated and unchanged. They always say, ‘Do it again”, and the grown-up person does it again until he is nearly dead. For grown-up people are not strong enough to exult in monotony. But perhaps God is strong enough to exult in monotony. It is possible that God says every morning, ‘Do it again’ to the sun; and every evening, ‘Do it again’ to the moon … The repetition in Nature many not be a mere recurrence; it may be a theatrical encore.”

There is goodness and beauty found in simplicity. God has made much of His creation simple and beautiful, but I wonder how much of the beauty we miss because we have made ourselves so complicated, so busy. When was the last time you said “Do it again, Lord” and then simply relaxed and enjoyed it when He did?

I encourage you to try to be a little less complicated today. There is beauty found in simplicity.

God bless,
Pastor Jim

2 thoughts on “There is beauty in simplicity”

thefathersfeet says:

September 13, 2021 at 9:22 am

Amen and very encouraging. I remember when my adult son was 2. He would say ‘do it again all the time. Great comparison. May God bless you and yours.

1. oakhillcrossville says:
  
  September 14, 2021 at 5:31 am
  
  Thanks Donna. God bless you as well!