Keeping it Simple and Real

Sometimes life feels like a juggling act where one wrong move could send everything crashing in bedlam. Be kind to others. Look your best. Serve with excellence. Be smart. Use your talents well. Tend to all of your relationships. Meet deadlines. Stay fit. And all the while still smiling.

But I am tired of excellence at the moment and want to spend a bohemian summer reading some great books, writing and loving people, maybe even wear hemp clothing and funky jewelry. And as I am encouraged by God, I want to consider how to encourage others better and how to reach the young generation more effectively. And of course I want to get out and exercise in the beautiful summer weather and have fun with family and friends. And play my flute.

But wait, this is starting to sound like the same list, only packaged differently. The difference is that it is grace-oriented, not task-oriented, and fueled and refreshed by love. I am a choleric artist, an oxymoron, I know. Don’t try this at home. I am as driven as a race car driver with an idealism that is always elusive. I think I understand how Thoreau felt when he wrote: “Our life is frittered away by detail. . . Simpilicity, simplicity, simplicity!”

This morning I ran four miles and ate a bowl of cherries. Ukrainian cherries are the best. I am writing this in my “Drops of Jupiter” jeans and flip flops at one of my favorite neighborhood coffee shops. I think I will spend the summer this way and take it on into the fall, simplified and streamlined, not wearied by the minutiae of detail. Hey, maybe I can even spell something out of it. You know, one of those acronyms:

S eek God
I nvest talents wisely
M ake disciples
P lay often
L ove others
E njoy life

Real SIMPLE, that’s it, she writes with a smile as she sips her cappuccino and spends time with the important people in her life. (Painting of our region, Podol, in Kiev.)

"But the Lord said to her, “My dear Martha, you are worried and upset over all these details! There is only one thing worth being concerned about. Mary has discovered it, and it will not be taken away from her.”
(Luke 10:41-42, NLT)

"Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don't worry about missing out. You'll find all your everyday human concerns will be met."
(Matt. 6:33, The Message)