Simplicity Homily 2011.10.10
A long time ago I was in seminary. I only lasted two months.
But one of the incidents there has stuck with me ever since.
I lived in a dorm with the other non-married students. So we saw each other not just in class but all
throughout the day. The classes were intense and up to that point I had never worked harder in an
academic setting. We were given our syllabi and the reading lists were enormous.
But I decided that unlike when I began college, or even more so, high school, I was going to master it all.
I would finish every reading assignment. I would turn nothing in late. Everything would be done as well
as I possibly could. And that was my neurotic life for a while.
One month into my time there, the resident assistant for the dorm, a third year student, called all the
first year students into the lounge.
He said, “I know most of you are over achievers. I know most of you have seen the assigned readings
and the other expectations and plan to complete all of it. Stop it. You can’t do it all. They assign all that
to humble you. Let it happen. You’ll be much healthier and happier if you choose when to push yourself
and when to back off.”
What quickly ran through my mind was “That’s very nice of you, but I am going to do it all anyway.”
About half a second after that thought passed through my mind he said, “I also know that many of you
just thought, ‘That’s very kind, but I’m going to do it all anyway.’” “So I’ll say it again. Stop it. You can’t
do it all.”
This definitely caught my attention. Whether he was clairvoyant or merely a very astute student of
human nature, I don’t know. And it really doesn’t matter. Those were good words for the situation and I
find them to be good words now.
I’m going to make a gross overgeneralization. There are “Type A” people and “Type B” people. Type A
people exert themselves. They want to master whatever it is they are doing. They thrive on the praise or
recognition of others, even if they pretend they don’t. They will push themselves until they drop and
then pat themselves on the back for it. Type B people are much more relaxed. They don’t worry nearly
so much. Or, if they do worry, it is often too late. They have an easier time winding down. They have an
easier time interrupting their schedule to listen to someone else, to go out to a movie, a meal, or a drink
and putting the homework on hold a little while.
As you probably already guessed, I am a Type A person. There are many advantages to being a Type A
person. Type B people sometimes need a reminder that a little hard work on their part really can make
the world a better place. But for the topic of simplicity, Type B people intuitively know something that
Type A people desperately need to learn. We can not do it all. And we need to stop pretending we can.
Simplicity Homily 2011.10.10
In preparing for my homily Pastor Char was kind enough to present me with eight passages that I might
want to consider. I’m not going to read them all here, but want to list the main points –
1. Don’t covet
2. Don’t be overly concerned with material wealth
3. Trust God
4. God cares for Ravens, Lillies, and Grass – He’ll keep you in mind.
5. If you are rich - Don’t be arrogant or stingy
6. Be content
7. Keep your priorities straight. Your possessions should not be your treasure.
Some of these are Jesus’ words. Some are not. They were spoken or written for slightly different
situations. But what do they have in common?
They encourage us to keep our lives more simple. We live in a nation of enormous wealth and, even in a
time of economic difficulty, enormous opportunity for accomplishments and recognition.
Don’t make those things more important than they are.
It is not that they are bad things.
It is that they are VERY often distractions from the best things.
Enjoy the life you have been given. Not just the things you do or the things that you have – but the fact
that you have a life.
Enjoy your friends.
Enjoy the weather – the sun beating down on your face or a torrential down pour
[I haven’t walked around in the rain for a long time and I need to]
Watch crows foraging for seeds or picking at a carcass
Enjoy the times you laugh, hard and uncontrollably.
Enjoy the experience of a new idea.
Enjoy the opportunity to show kindness, or
The opportunity to let someone be kind to you.
Simplicity Homily 2011.10.10
"Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, the exam next week, nor about your body, the
treadmill that awaits you. For life is more than grades, and the body more than six pack abs or a
firm butt. Consider the ravens: they neither study nor write, they have neither Amercrombie nor
Lexus, and yet God cares for them. Of how much more value are you than the birds!
And what you gain in fitness, you may lose through ulcers. There are so many things that are out of
your control. Worry does not help. So stop it.
And do not seek what you are to eat and what you are to drink, nor be of anxious mind. For all the
nations of the world seek these things; and your God knows that you need them. Instead, seek
God’s kingdom, and God will be with you as well.
If I may be so bold as to summarize for those of us who don’t keep our priorities straight, who
instead become too caught up in accomplishments, accumulation, and spending –
Stop it! You can’t do it all. You can’t have it all.
And it is better that you can’t.
God cares for you and has better things in mind.