I went to the Greenfield Village again over the Memorial Day holiday. It was the Civil War Remembrance weekend. I can't miss that! As usual I got lost in thought and a yearning to finally understand simplicity. This might be the real reason I like to go to Greenfield Village. Maybe I really just like to get lost in the pre industrial age ponderings.
As I was watching the re-enactors cooking their dinners over an open fire in the spring rain, I thought again that I am a man born out of time. My joy would overflow if only I lived in a simpler time. Yet as I allow that train of thought to take shape, I realize that being born into another time period would not give me the opportunity to appreciate that period. Knowing me, no matter what period I was born into I would likely be looking to a time before that and longing for an even simpler way of life.
In fact, I realized that simple living starts with simple thinking. It starts with a determination, a will, to live more simply.
But that's not so simple.
Here is the scene. A man is rekindling a now damp fire in the rain. His wife is stirring the pot and wiping the rain from her face with her apron. Now, for just a moment forget about the fact that they are wearing civil war era clothing. What are they doing that I could not do? Notice I say "could" because, in fact, I would not stand in the rain....but I could. And yet standing in the rain and cooking over an open fire, as much as it appeals to me, is in itself not simple living.
Still, as I looked at the scene I have just described, I think it does point to something that feels a bit simpler. The couple standing at the fire has given up a need to control their environment. They have ceased dwell on the inclement weather. Instead they have chosen to embrace the uncontrollable. I wonder how often my complicated life has become complicated because I am trying to maintain control of everything. It gets hot and humid so I retreat into the air conditioning, therefore I must have central air. My stomach growls and I instantly reach for a snack therefore I must always have a snack close at hand. I seek to be as comfortable as possible therefore I must maintain a good job and a high standard of living. And with each "must" I shackle myself with complexity.
I know the scripture calls us to take dominion over the whole earth, to provide for our families, and God promises to meet our needs. Still, I wonder what would happen if I made a list of "must's" and started letting go. Maybe I'd begin to learn what real needs look like...and maybe life would be a little simpler.
