Simplicity


This morning my reading is Proverbs 3. One of my favorite chapters in Proverbs, the 3rd chapter is full of verses that have meaning for me, and that I would love to write about. The chapter opens with this admonition:


Do not forget my teaching, but keep my commands in your heart.


I think it's fairly common for folks to pass through a crisis of their faith while going through the death of a loved one, and such was certainly the case for me this past year, as I watched my Mom decline and pass away. I can't count how many times I sat by her bedside and wondered if everything I've been taught all my life is true...and whether, in the end, her suffering would be made worthwhile by paradise on the other side of this life. As I sit here on a beautiful fall morning, enjoying a cup of coffee on my deck, I would be dishonest to say that I don't still struggle with doubts...and yet, it is what happened in my heart in the days after Mom's death that seems to confirm the teachings I've heard all my life...something akin to her spirit returning to rest within me, to infuse me with a legacy of grace and trust that characterized her nature for these last 77 years...it has changed me somehow, and made me know that all will be well in the end.


Chapter 3 of Proverbs also contains the very first passage of scripture that I memorized for a Sunday School assignment. I was 11 years old, in 5th grade:


Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and he will direct your paths.


As I read the verses today, I am struck by their simplicity, and realize that the message contained in just these 2 sentences is broad enough to provide an outline for one's entire life. I've been known to make life more difficult than it needs to be, the lessons of spirituality more complex than the average person would ever want to ponder...perhaps because I think that mastering a complex set of spiritual truths will somehow make me superior to everyone else...whatever the case, I'm reminded today that the deepest truths are usually characterized by simplicity.


We need to spend more time listening to the breeze blow through the trees...to the birds singing in the morning...and know that all of life's wisdom can be found in this basic truth:


Trust God and acknowledge him, and all will be well in the end.

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