“This life does not have a fighting chance against the promises of another life. In the battle waged in our minds, we find no place in our daydreams for the burden of being ourselves, where we are obliged—or is it blessed?—to be conscious. When we choose to live awake and aware, we give up the promises of another life. We learn to practice the art of wanting what we already have.
“The sacred necessity of simplicity says, ‘enough is enough.’
“All too often, the mantra of ‘not enough’ carries the day, and becomes the de facto setting for all our thinking and internal wiring. Since we are reminded—three thousand times a day—of what we should do, buy, or be, we assume that we must not have enough. We capitulate to public opinion. After all, ‘what would they think?’”
These are some thoughts from Terry Hershey’s book Sacred Necessities (p. 113). We’ve been reading it during Lent on Fridays. Today is Good Friday. It is also Earth Day. These comments on simplicity seem especially appropriate today. We’re reminded of Jesus’ radical yielding of everything—and our own desire to acquire everything.
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