by Rev. Fr. V.V. Paulose, Toronto, Canada
"Better to have one handful with quietness than two handfuls with hard work and chasing the wind." (Ecclesiastes 4:6)
Do you like a happy simple life?
Simplicity of life can save sinking families, individuals and organizations from
their self- destruction. Simplicity means a life with a modest minimum
necessities of things. The world is polluted in the realm of physical and
spiritual by excess ties of the goods and sins that human beings make use of.
Keep up with the Joneses is the life style of the modern world. Cashless plastic
and electronic credit cards perpetuate the tendency of buying more and more,
working more and more and finally end up being less and less happier in the rat
chase. Voluntary simplicity has been practiced by the desert fathers,
Franciscans' laymen, Quakers, the Amish and by a number of other orders in
Christianity. People with excess have an obligation towards the poor. The
gluttony, greed, and vain glory are obstacles in the relationship of human
beings with God. Small is always beautiful. When the "me monster" roars, needs
of the other become a distant murmur.
The richest man in the world, Warren Buffet, still has no cell phone, no desktop
computer in his modest office and is living in a small 3-bed room house that he
had purchased 50 years ago. He never travels in a private Jet despite the fact
that he owns the largest private Jet company. He says the secret of his
happiness is his simplicity of life. "I don't want a 405 feet boat just because
someone else has a 400 feet boat," Buffet said.
We have to live within our means. Be happy with what we have. Live our own life.
Learn to be happy with the bare minimum. Excess should be distributed to the
needy. Lead a simple life.
Jesus, we pray for those who don't have the basic
necessities of life. Let them find a way to meet their needs. Let the rich have
the mind to give up their excess to the needy. Let the people look on you and
emulate your life on earth. All we ask in the name of Jesus.
Amen.
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