To Walk in Simplicity

For many of us the disparity between our daily lives and the call to simplicity of action is painful. I confess that when the pain arises for me, I often resist acknowledging the presence of any grace in my discomfort. In the end, though, I can neither dismiss the pain nor what it holds out to me. The pain reminds me that a life fractured by an overabundance of obligations is not the life for which any of us was created. It invites me to discern once again my few talents and how I may most effectively apply them. The pain grants me permission to say a clear “No” to anything that will dissipate my efforts. It offers license to yield myself joyfully to the few places that most need what I can bring.
-- Steve Doughty, To Walk in Integrity