Friday, October 10, 2008

Increase Simplicity, Increase Spirituality.


Some highlights from Elder Perry's talk, "Let Him Do It With Simplicity"- from October 2008 General Conference.

"There are cycles of good and bad times, ups and downs, periods of joy and sadness, and times of plenty as well as scarcity. When our lives turn in an unanticipated and undesirable direction, sometimes we experience stress and anxiety. One of the challenges of this mortal experience is to not allow the stresses and strains of life to get the better of us—to endure the varied seasons of life while remaining positive, even optimistic."


Elder Perry repeats several times the phrase, "spiritual benefits of a simplified lifestyle". This made me think of life as a missionary. It was a very simple- no media of any kind- limited shopping and travel- same old clothes everyday- simple apartments- adequate sleep, and plenty of study. Great spiritual benefits. I do not wish to be so extreme, but I do think that increasing simplification can result in increased spirituality. So- this begs the question- where in my life can I reduce the complexity? ... I have already decided that having my kids in soccer and dance is too much- next year- no soccer. I don't watch more than an hour of television a day- but perhaps I could reduce even that- less TV- more reading. I don't know- what do you think? What are some ways of simplifying life?
Painting by Gloria's Graphics.

2 comments:

UtahJenny said...

Thank you for providing a spiritual message each day - you are so kind. I had to respond to this because I am so excited for a new phase of life. I have been serving as the PriPres for about a year and a half. It has kept me hopping and I have loved it. About a month ago my husband was called into the bishopric and that means I will need to be released. I thought I would be sad, but as I contemplate the opportunity this will afford me of really being able to focus on my family and being a wife and mom, with fewer distractions, I am filled with excitement and gratitude. I am so happy to have my life simplified a bit (maybe not my husband's, but mine). Thanks again! Jenny

Michal said...

okay, so i just typed out a ridiculously long comment. i guess i need to write my own post about living simply.

here are a few things that we have been doing this year to try to increase simplicity:

window shop less
only buy what we really need
read more, watch less
plant and tend a garden
do simple but fun things with our children: board games, read, take a walk, ride bikes--family outings don't have to be expensive
homeschooling actually simplifies a lot, believe it or not!

i have really seen our lives enriched spiritually as we have made this effort. so i can testify that it works. i loved this talk and am looking for new ways to simplify our life.