Simple Gifts
On the Art of Living
5-8-22
Welcome to the Church at Perelandra College
Last week, here at the Church, I offered Olga Savitsky as an example of someone who chose to live like Christ, without allowing possessions, career or other ambitions, or insecurity, to block her way.
But not many of us could live like Olga. She was wise, creative, and for reasons I can only guess, she remained single and childless. Meaning she had ultimately no one but God to answer to or for. So she wasn't asked to compromise in ways those responsible for family feel required to.
Still, we all might become more able to apply ourselves to appreciating God and treating others in loving ways if we, like Olga, took steps to minimize our desire for material stuff and unhealthy pleasures. We might decline to engage with the ads thrown at us. Or we might be selective in what we daydream. Say, rather than fantacize about a golfing vacation in Scotland or Pebble Beach, I might daydream about the public course in Morro Bay.
Should a Hollywood bigshot offer to make my Hickey Family novels into a tv series, I might reconsider destinations. But meanwhile, I will recognize that I certainly don't need a trip to Scotland and neither does Zoe, my daughter and golfing buddy. So if Hollywood bigshots pass over my work, I will feel no deep sorrow or shame. And if I catch myself harboring a jealous thought about some friend the Hollywood gang has enriched, I can take comfort in the fact that compared to that friend, I am not so tempted to feel arrogant.
I much admire people like the Amish who choose to live without every new gadget. Shakers, including Joseph Brackett, regarded as the composer of "Simple Gifts", had similar attitudes.
A while back, Pam and I went to Las Vegas to see a Circ du Soleil performance called O (short for Eau). It's all about water, it feels truly magical, and it's cheaper than average seats at an MLB game.
Afterward, as we walked along the Strip, an elaborate show featuring geysers and waterfalls commenced in the faux lake in front of the Bellagio. Though though it didn't begin to compare with O, it was lovely and made even more memorable by the musical accompaniment, an instrumental version of "Simple Gifts".
While I stood entranced by the spectacle, I wondered whether the Bellagio producers were simply clueless or were masters of irony.
Here are the lyrics: “Tis the gift to be simple, tis the gift to be free, tis the gift to come down where we ought to be. And when we find ourselves in the place just right, twill be in the valley of love and delight. When true simplicity is gained, to bow and to bend we shall not be ashamed. To turn, turn, will be our delight, til by turning, turning we come 'round right.”
Please enjoy "Simple Gifts" performed by Allison Krauss and Yo Yo Ma.
Christ came to offer us freedom. And as the song reminds us, simplifying our lives by asking for only what we need, rather than what we want, can help allow Christ to set us free.
And those of us who don't live like the Amish can still look to Olga for some lessons. Maybe one about taking good care of our old Toyota.
Olga also mentioned the danger of craving security. For next week, I intend to propose that security is all about faith and to offer some useful insights on that vital substance.
By the way, Perelandra College, sponsor of these messages, is trying hard to raise the money to regain the accreditation we gave up because we couldn't afford to keep it. You could help by opting for a paid subscription, no matter how modest.
Wishing you all, and especially mothers, a blessed and happy day.