Pope Francis' Simplicity and His Easter Message 2013: I Love This New Pope, and I'm Not Catholic

I'm not Catholic, but as a Christian I loved the Easter message given by the new Pope, Pope Francis, yesterday from the Vatican.  Read the complete text online, here is a brief excerpt:

... So this is the invitation which I address to everyone: Let us accept the grace of Christ's Resurrection! Let us be renewed by God's mercy, let us be loved by Jesus, let us enable the power of his love to transform our lives too; and let us become agents of this mercy, channels through which God can water the earth, protect all creation and make justice and peace flourish. 

And so we ask the risen Jesus, who turns death into life, to change hatred into love, vengeance into forgiveness, war into peace. Yes, Christ is our peace, and through him we implore peace for all the world.

I hope that I'm not insulting any Catholics out there, as I share my impression as a Protestant that this new Pope sure is inspiring to me.  I like that he's appreciative of living a simple life, though I understand this is causing some controversy among traditionalists in the Catholic Church.

Pope Francis may be making waves by foregoing things like wearing the ermine lined cape as he debuted as the man chosen to serve as the next Pope.  However, I have found there is a spiritual aspect to living a simple life, and I cannot help but smile as I read more and more about Pope Francis apparently sharing this appreciation.

And I share his prayer -- that we all be renewed by God's mercy, that we may all accept the love of Jesus, and all that Pope Francis spoke about on Easter 2013.

God bless you, Dear Reader.  And God bless Pope Francis, love him!!!

Happy 2012: Where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light….

Dear Reader, welcome to a blog that I’ve been writing since January 2005, some years with more dedication than others.  I’m hoping that I’ll keep to a better writing schedule here this year than last, fingers crossed.   Did I make this as a New Year’s Resolution?  Not really. 

I did take the time to count my many blessings as one year passed into another, and thanked God for them.  The big and the small.  One of the things that I thanked God for blessing me with was this blog and the ability to write it, the simple life I’m living, and you, Dear Reader, who sometimes leave comments or sending emails to me.  The internet is amazing, isn’t it?  People connecting who would otherwise never meet.

I’m not Catholic.  However, I do appreciate a lot about the Catholic Church and one of those things is the Catholic observance of the New Year.  Here’s a discussion of how Catholic families all over the world celebrated New Year’s Day yesterday.  Thought I’d share this prayer from St. Francis of Assisi, which I find particularly beautiful.

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace:
where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
where there is sadness, joy.

O divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console,
to be understood as to understand,
to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive,
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.

R. Amen. —St. Francis of Assisi

God bless you and yours, Dear Reader.

Seeking Wisdom? Read a Chapter of Proverbs Every Day

Reading a chapter from the book of Proverbs every day is an old-time tradition -- the fact that there are 32 chapters is such a nice overlap with the monthly calendar, after all.  And, it's not hard to do -- the chapters are short (though there's a lot in them to ponder).  In fact, BiblePlan.Org will email you a Proverbs chapter every day (whichever version you prefer) if you subscribe for free to their online service. 

Today's chapter (May 2nd, so Proverbs 2) is a great example. I've cut and pasted a version of the chapter below (from the Bible Gateway), and I've also taken out the standard margins and individual verse references. 

Why?  Not only does it read easier this way, but it's closer to how the author wrote it.  Those verse references throughout the Holy Bible are great for organization, but I find that they can be a stumbling block to me when I'm reading ... so I will often cut and paste portions into a document and take the numbers out.  It's interesting to see what comes through when I do this, and I thought I'd share this learning tool with you, too, Dear Reader. 

Reading Proverbs and Voluntary Simplicity

How does this help in living a simple life?  Live a life of voluntary simplicity means going against the flow of today's modern American culture - and sad to say, there's a lot of foolishness out there.  Probably not new, right? 

For me, starting the day out with Proverbs helps keep me grounded.  It helps me to remember that as I make choices during the day, that I need to ask myself "is this wise?"  and to monitor what's influencing me.  As dedicated to this lifestyle as I am -- and I walk this talk -- I'm only human and I can be influenced into purchasing stuff I don't need, or buying some fast food because I'm running late and there's so much left on the task list. 

Reading Proverbs is a practical tool that really helps me.  As amazing as that is, as I sit here on May 2, 2010, reading words written by King Solomon, son of David, ancestor of Jesus, around 2500 years ago. 

Sidenote

What I find interesting as I write this is how I have come to take for granted how practical it is to live as a follower of Christ -- something that I think gets lost a lot, at least by me.  Living a simple life is living a Christian life from my perspective.  More on this pondering in another post, on another day.....

Here is Proverbs 2 (New Living Translation):

The Benefits of Wisdom


My child, listen to what I say,and treasure my commands.
Tune your ears to wisdom, and concentrate on understanding.

Cry out for insight, and ask for understanding.
Search for them as you would for silver; seek them like hidden treasures.
Then you will understand what it means to fear the Lord, and you will gain knowledge of God.

For the Lord grants wisdom! From his mouth come knowledge and understanding.
He grants a treasure of common sense to the honest. He is a shield to those who walk with integrity. He guards the paths of the just and protects those who are faithful to him.

Then you will understand what is right, just, and fair, and you will find the right way to go. For wisdom will enter your heart, and knowledge will fill you with joy.

Wise choices will watch over you. Understanding will keep you safe.
Wisdom will save you from evil people, from those whose words are twisted.

These men turn from the right way to walk down dark paths.
They take pleasure in doing wrong, and they enjoy the twisted ways of evil.
Their actions are crooked, and their ways are wrong.

Wisdom will save you from the immoral woman, from the seductive words of the promiscuous woman.
She has abandoned her husband and ignores the covenant she made before God.
Entering her house leads to death; it is the road to the grave.
The man who visits her is doomed. He will never reach the paths of life.

Follow the steps of good men instead, and stay on the paths of the righteous.
For only the godly will live in the land, and those with integrity will remain in it.
But the wicked will be removed from the land, and the treacherous will be uprooted.

Image:  The Wisdom of Solomon by James Joseph Tissot (1836-2902), public domain, Wikimedia Commons.

Joyce Meyer Talks Simplicity This Week

Joyce Meyer's televised broadcast this morning was the first of a two-parter dealing with Simple Living.  The title of the show today is "Simple Prayer and Simple Living, Part 1" and it's well worth your time.  (Her book, The Power of Simple Prayer, is being offered with a set of DVDs this week as a special offer, and you can read a sample chapter for free on her site.)

Today's show is very funny.  Joyce Meyer always makes me laugh.  Today, she talks about letting that load of clothes build up, and then when you carry it to the washer, you realize you've already left a load setting in there.  Except when she talks about doing this (I've done it, how about you?), it's hilarious.  She talks about the time that she started out with a simple invite to four friends after church, come over next week for hot dogs, and turning that into a steak BBQ for 32.  Again, it's really funny when you hear her telling stories on herself.

Really good thing here -- she makes an excellent example for how simplicity - simple living - isn't always the same as frugal living.  They aren't synonimous terms, and it's really clear here, in how she talks about taking the complications out of your daily life, for a higher quality of living.

Another really good thing -- her book on simplifying.  There's a separate post on that one, it's really good. 

How to Pray Effectively? Check out Germaine Copeland's Prayers That Avail Much

In one way, it fascinates me when I'm asked how I pray. For me, I'm not sure when I start and stop, it flows through my life in such a constant flow. I just talk with God - about everything. Isn't this what everyone else does too? (Fine. I admit to fighting against self-absorbsion as a hobby, even an art form.)

So, okay. Maybe different people pray differently, or maybe some folk don't pray much at all. I'm going to share some of my experience, because that's all I've got to give you. I don't think that this is being self-absorbed (at least I hope not) ....

Bottom line: prayer helps me, and that's the truth. I'm happier for it. I find peace through prayer. Praying makes my fear go away, it restores and revives me. I'm amazed and thankful that I'm allowed to do it - communicate with God. Awed by it. But that's another post, for another day ....

Living a simple life in this materialistic culture isn't the easiest road to travel, and if you're doing it, then you know what I mean.

Help! and Thanks! are two of my biggest prayers (and I hope that Thanks! is beating Help! in the tallies, but I'm not confident that this is true.)

However, it's not like this is all I do. It's not like I'm some prayer-savant or something. I read the Word a lot, I pray from what I find there, I recite prayers that I read there, and yes, I study the prayer that Jesus gave us all as an example of how to pray.

One other thing that I do is I follow Germaine Copeland's Prayers That Avail Much series -- not only do I search for prayers she's written on specific topics, but I also pray the prayer that she shares with anyone who asks in a daily email message.

Not only are her prayers wonderful in how they've been collected, organized, and shared, I also appreciate how Mrs. Copeland has incorporated so many scriptures into her prayers. I like praying the Word itself. I think it's important.

So, for today's Sunday Inspiration for Simple Living, I'm sharing Germaine Copeland's Prayers That Avail Much series.

You can buy the books online.
You can search her database for prayers dealing with a particular issue.
You can read the blog.
You can get the prayers emailed to your inbox.
You can listen to her prayers on audio, examples include prayer to live from worry, peace in the family, and handling household finances.

And yes, one of the things I pray is thanks to God for the gift of Germaine Copeland. I'm hopeful you'll find her work as much of a blessing as I have.

Fr. Christopher Jamison's New Book On Simpliciity Gets Media Play By Taking On Disney as Promoting Materialism and Greed - Is He Right?

Over in England, Christopher Jamison is a Benedictine monk known as the Abbot of Worth in West Sussex, and he's a prominent figure in Catholic circles -- touted by many as the next Archbishop of Westminister. (You know, that Westminister.)

Jamison starred in a hit TV series on the BBC (The Monastery) and he's just come out with a new book that encourages people to live simply. The title? Finding Happiness.

In his book, Jamison offers advice in changing your lifestyle to one of simplicity by changing the way you think and upping your self-discipline. In fact, he argues that there are 8 thoughts that must be controlled to find happiness; they are:

anger
pride
gluttony
lust
greed
sloth or spiritual apathy
sadness
vanity.

Father Jamison isn't timid. He's boldly taken on the celebrity news media as helping people to become dissatisfied with their personal circumstances, encouraging envy. And, he's not stopped there.

Jamison is also getting a lot of news coverage for taking on Walt Disney's legacy. He argues that the current Disney conglomerate offers product that does have value (an example: Sleeping Beauty does give a lesson on good vs. evil) but Jamison decries the corporation for tying so many secondary products and services to its films - thereby encouraging the indoctrination of children into materialism and cultural greed.

For more on Jamison's position, check out the Telegraph's article, Disney accused by Catholic cleric of corrupting children's minds, and the quotes from one of his interviews in the Church Times, which includes this statement, where he is discussing Advent:

“We see Advent as a very seriously charged moment, in which we . . . refuse to behave as though the way to salvation is to spend more and to get into debt more, because that is what has got us into this trouble in the first place,” he said at the launch.

“The antidote to greed is waiting. It is not never shop,but shop less; not stand still, but go slower; but that is not what the politicians are going to tell us. The Chancellor is going to say ‘Spend like before.’ But that is what has got us into trouble in the first place.

“The economy is going through a readjustment, whether we like it or not. If we behave like we have in the last ten years, then we will just see another crisis. We have to work for an economy with a more solid foundation in order to skip the boom and bust. But the politicians have not done that.”

My Favorite Simplicity Posts of the Week

Here are some great reads for you:

1. Simplicity for the Novice over at HappyToBeAtHome -- Joy writes a great post on what simplicity means to her and her family, and how her Christian faith is the Cornerstone of this lifestyle (mine,too).

2. Realizing How Much You Already Have published by ChoosingVoluntarySimplicity. Pretty, inspiring.

3. The Weekend Round Up over at A Satisfying Journey Towards Simplicity -- Nikki's post is a fun, smooth read, and personally, I like the image of the chickens running around ....

4. Adele over at Simplicity has a wonderful post discussing the Theology of Work which is made even more inticing because she's writing from her home in Kenya, heading over to Capetown.

5. Nikki Painter's recipe for her Easy Tuna Mac Casserole, along with her description of being sick this past week, the family going out for Taco Bell, and a friend helping out made me smile - I don't like to think that simplicity is starting to sound trendy and even snooty, and it's great to read about other people who think it's hunky dorey to "break out of the box" and go to the Bell every once in a while (for me it's cheap, and it reminds me of high school). (I'm also gonna try that casserole.)