Simplify
April 4, 2010

SIMPLIFY…”to make something less complicated or easier to understand.” Betty and I spent some fun days with Reagan, our granddaughter this past week. We learned that a five year old makes things simple and easier to understand. When she prayed, the prayer was simple—she actually thanked God for the food, a fun day, taking care of mommy, daddy, Conner and Tyler and yes she includes the dogs. She mentioned the things that really mattered to her, like a friend at school who broke her wrist. I wish I could “simplify” my life and just have a simple walk with my Savior by remembering that faith in Jesus Christ should not be “Complicated.”

Every time I do a funeral, I’m reminded of the things that really matter… things that last. There is nothing like a fresh grave to remind me how complicated I can make life. It is funny, all that stuff that seemed so all-fired important yesterday loses a lot of its steam when you are standing hand-in-hand around a freshly opened grave, surrounded by weather-beaten graves markers. You suddenly realize that all “the busyness” you think is so VIP is often just clutter, and the voice inside cries out
“Simplify your life.”

After the intensive look at “Jesus' Journey to the Empty Tomb” these past weeks I was reminded that He never hurried anywhere. He fulfilled his agenda completely. In John 17:4, just before the agony of the cross, He told the Father of “having accomplished the work Thou hast given me to do.” And who could ever forget that last statement just before He drew His last breath, “It is finished” (John 19:30). Nothing essential was left undone. How much longer will we keep adding the non-essentials to our agenda? Who convinced us to feel guilty for taking time to balance work with play (you decide what “the play” means).

When I listened to our Reagan making life simple and fun I remembered a book written by Robert Faughum in 1987: ALL I EVER REALLY NEEDED TO KNOW I LEARNED IN KINDERGARTEN. Even though I did not go to kindergarten, I learned early that what I really need to know about life, and what to do and how to be, I learned as a small child playing with other “kids.” I learned to Share things. Play fair. Don’t hit people. Put things back where you found them. Clean up your mess. Don’t take things that aren’t yours. Say you’re sorry when you hurt somebody. Wash your hands before you eat. Flush. Warm cookies and cold milk are good for you. Learn and think some and draw and sing and dance and play pretend and work some everyday. It’s good to take a nap everyday. Always hold hands and stick together. Remember the little cups that we put little seeds in the bottom and dirt on top? The roots go down and the plant goes up and nobody knows why, but we were all amazed by it. We all remember that the goldfish and white mice and eventually the little seeds in the cup all die—and so do we!

Think what better people we would be and a better world it would be if we all stopped about 3:00 pm and had hot cookies and cold milk everyday. If you’ll call me about 2:30, I’ll bring the milk if you’ll bring the hot cookies, and we will simplify our life a bit. 

Together with God,