Faith is inextricably linked to living a simpler life. The world, in all its secular wisdom, wants you to do more, be more, buy more, and so on. They’re fostering discontentment, so that they can sell you the temporary cure.
You’ve probably heard the Latin phrase “Carpe Diem” which, if you’ve watched Dead Poet’s Society, you know means “Seize the day.”
The world wants you to “seize the day” by running as fast as you can, working as hard as you can, and spending as much as you can.
But what if I told you the only way to really “seize” something is to slow down enough to enjoy it and fully experience it?
I’m reading through the book Tuesdays With Morrie by Mitch Albom. It describes the author’s experiences of talking with his old mentor who is dying of ALS. They have discussions about life, death, family, love, money, and many other things from the perspective of someone who’s about to leave this world.
It’s an eye-opening read, but the biggest thing I’ve taken away from it so far is how seriously we take things that are fleeting in nature, and how easily we dismiss things of importance (because we’ll get around to it eventually).
What is it about the human heart that makes us lust after temporal, physical things? Is it because we can touch them- interact with them at will? Is it because they give us some sense of achievement? Some kind of visceral feedback?
Simply put, we crave these things because our flesh craves them. Our physical bodies crave physical things. And in the process of becoming attached to physical things, our souls become less and less engaged.
Slowing Down Is Hard
Like John Mark Comer says, being busy is counterproductive to growing spiritually. They are not compatible. And in our daily rush of life, we forget this. Specifically, “I” forget this. We have to turn off the constant noise of the physical world, and let our hearts really rest in that.
I’m not talking about “meditation” in the eastern religion sense- but in the Biblical sense. To think about something specific, not emptying your mind. To rest physically, mentally, and feed yourself spiritually by thinking about something refreshing- like the goodness of God.
But if you truly want to “seize the day” you have to stop moving long enough to grasp it.
How To Do More By Doing Less
If people had hard indicators on where their limits were, maybe we wouldn’t be in such a mess. I mean, think about it- what if the moment your schedule was booked to capacity, there was a red light that went on in your head that said “Stop! Don’t overcommit! You’re too busy!”
But what ends up happening instead is we’re not aware of our margins, because we’re moving too fast. We can’t slow down and think through what we’re already committed to, and gauge how much energy we’re already short. This has been the biggest hurdle for me in my constant interest in minimalism- my own self-awareness struggles to know when enough is enough.
And if you’re anything like me, you’ll find that the more you cram into your schedule, the less things you finish. More and more tasks get pushed to the “do later” folder, until they’re surrounded by an impenetrable wall of excuses.
But what if you *only* did tasks you know you could finish?
How do you measure your success- by how many things you start, or by how many things you finish?
When you begin scaling back your schedule, you’ll find that by finishing things, you’ll have accomplished more than if you’d tried to do more. If you don’t believe me, try this simple (but difficult) experiment.
- Clear your week’s schedule of everything except the necessities (work, sleep, etc).
- Make a list of things you want to do (I’m sure it will be huge).
- Mark the ones you are *certain* you can finish this week. No cheating.
- If anyone asks you to do anything else, tell them “I can get to it next week.”
After a week, you should start seeing things happen. It will be hard, but it is possible.
That’s it. That’s all there is to it.
Choose Christ
To bring this back around (sorry…) what all this means is, instead of “seizing the day” with random opportunities that may or may not help you, we should instead focus on intentionally choosing to meditate on things that will help us grow spiritually, which will in turn make us happier, more peaceful, and more connected with the world around us.
In pointing out these things to the brethren, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, constantly nourished on the words of the faith and of the sound doctrine which you have been following. But have nothing to do with worldly fables fit only for old women. On the other hand, discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness; for bodily discipline is only of little profit, but godliness is profitable for all things, since it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come. It is a trustworthy statement deserving full acceptance. For it is for this we labor and strive, because we have fixed our hope on the living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially of believers.
– 1 Timothy 4:6-10 (emphasis mine)(Author’s note: my previous post mentions the book Love Comes Softly which has been the theme of several of the manga I’ve been reading lately: People coming together out of necessity, but eventually choosing to genuinely love each other. Just thought I’d mention it. Maybe our relationship to God isn’t so much different…)