September Newsletter 2010

Simplicity & Respect

My break in France taught me a lot about the need for simplicity in our lives, and how we overcomplicate and overfill them most of the time. I was camping, and have to confess I am not a natural at this sort of thing - I like my home comforts and hot water - but this is what felt right for the family so off I went.

I was without TV, Radio or the Internet (no Facebook!) and after the initial day of struggle realised how liberating it can be. I quickly relaxed into this less urgent existence, not being bombarded with media images and diversions.

I read a novel by Sebastian Faulks, one of my favourite authors, and then just observed what was going on around me.

The French who made up most of my fellow campers seem to understand the importance of simplicity. I watched numerous French families happily playing Boules or cards, or just simply sitting, chatting and enjoying each others company. No buzz of electronic games or other such virtual worlds - just savouring the moment. One day I watched as one family sat more or less for 5 hours solid, just talking, laughing, interacting with each other over numerous games of cards. OK the wine was there, but that is not the point - they were happy doing nothing - sitting in a beautiful setting just being.

The supermarkets didn't have hundreds of different brands of food as we may have here in the UK, but there was enough choice - do we need so many alternatives? People were filling their baskets with good wholesome simple food, and that too was liberating.

Last week there was a programme on the TV (yes I am back watching, but more discerning!) - and it focussed on how much good food gets wasted by the big supermarket chains here - because it doesn't look quite right or is past it's sell by date (still very edible). As I wheeled my trolley around Tesco yesterday, a Tesco assistant was searching through the shelves for just such produce, and literally throwing it into baskets with no respect or understanding that this is a valuable resource (I know she was doing her job, but you get my point).

Have we all gone mad - we need to get back to a simpler way - that doesn't mean giving up on everything we love, but it does mean respecting what we have more.

This September as autumn approaches let us look at what we already have and respect it more, and try and simplify areas of our lives which are overloaded. Even if this means turning off the TV one night a week, or allowing a period of stillness during the day - the rewards will surprise you.

I had forgotten how much I love reading, and in fact it has spurred me on to write myself - one book on Metatron is already started, but I received other ideas in France, which wouldn't have filtered through unless I turned the distractions down.

I wish you a happy September, but in the meantime ask that you look at the moment of reflection and prayer for the miners stuck in Chile - this is posted above.

Where there is light there is always hope.