Hendrickson Publishers - Simplicity: Spiritual Practices for Everyday Life

Everyday life today is busier and more distracting than it has ever been before. While cell phones and texting make it easier to keep track of children and each other, they also make it harder to get away from the demands that overwhelm us. Time, it seems, is a shrinking commodity. But God, the Creator of time, has given us the keys to leading a life that may be challenging but not overwhelming. In fact, he offers us tools to do what seems impossible and come away refreshed and renewed. These tools are called spiritual practices, or spiritual disciplines.

Spiritual practices are holy habits. They are rooted in Gods word, and they go back to creation itself. God has hardwired us to thrive when we obey him, even when it seems like his instructions defy our common sense. When we engage in the holy habits that God has ordained, time takes on a new dimension. What seems impossible is actually easy; its easy because we are tapping into Gods resources.

The holy habits that we call spiritual practices are all geared to position us in a place where we can allow the Holy Spirit to work in us and through us, to grant us power and strength to do the things we cant do on our own. They take us to a place where we can become intimate with God.

While holy habits and everyday life may sound like opposites, they really arent. As you learn to incorporate spiritual practices into your life, youll find that everyday life is easier. At the same time, you will draw closer to God and come to a place where you can luxuriate in his rich blessings. Here is a simple example. Elizabeth Collings hated running household errands. Picking up dry cleaning, doing the grocery shopping, and chauffeuring her kids felt like a never-ending litany of menial chores. One day she had a simple realization that changed her life. That day she began to use her chore time as a time of prayer and fellowship with God.

Whenever Elizabeth walked the aisle of the supermarket, she prayed for each person who would eat the item of food she selected. On her way to pick up her children, she would lay their lives out before God, asking him to be there for them even when she couldnt. Each errand became an opportunity for fellowship with God. The chore that had been so tedious became a precious part of her routine that she cherished.

The purpose of these study guides is to help you use spiritual practices to make your own life richer, fuller, and deeper. The series includes twenty-four spiritual practices that are the building blocks of Christian spiritual formation. Each practice is a holy habit that has been modeled for us in the Bible. The practices are acceptance, Bible study and meditation, celebration, community, confession, contemplation, faith, fasting, forgiveness, gratitude, hospitality, justice, mentoring, outreach, prayer, reconciliation, Sabbath and rest, service, silence, simplicity, solitude, stewardship, submission, and worship.

As you move through the practices that you select, remember Christs promise in Matthew 11:2830:

Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.

Introduction

to the Practice of Simplicity

Simplicity. The very word itself soothes, quiets, calms. It conjures visions of the beach at sunset, a mother caressing her sleeping child, a little boy sitting on a rock with his fishing rod waiting for a catch. Seems like another world, doesnt it?

Life has never been more stressful or fast-paced than it is today. With the great changes in technology that weve seen over the last two decades, life is utterly different today. The Internet has turned the world into a global village. Between Facebook, cell phones, texting and e-mail, you are always connectedperhaps more than youd like.

As a society, America is on sensory overload. A simple evening dinner with the family is often something that has to be arranged in advance. For most people, a quiet walk includes using an iPod. And even a drive to the grocery store is no guarantee of a few minutes just to be. Cell phones and texting make it possible to be in conversation every minute of the day! It seems like simplicity is quickly becoming as obsolete as phone booths and Walkmans.

So what does the Bible say about this phenomenon? Do we need simplicity? In her powerful article Two of Me in the Everyday Matters Bible for Women, Mindy Caliguire says that the spiritual practice of simplicity is a way of life in which we truly assess what Gods priorities are, not just our own. In Luke 6:29, Jesus says, If someone demands your coat, offer your shirt also. He urges his followers not to store up treasures on earth where they can get used or lost or stolen, but to store our treasures in heaven. Thats about things, but what about our time? Are we willing to give our time away? In many ways, that is more precious than our possessions. And if we give our time away to others, when will there be time to get everything done that needs to be accomplished? Simplicity isnt so simple after all, or so it seems.