Tuesday, May 29, 2007

Simple Gifts (Part 1)

Do you remember this stanza from the classic Shaker song, Simple Gifts? The haunting melody and evocative words remind us that busyness and stress are not supposed to be our daily experience.

'Tis the gift to be simple, 'Tis the gift to be free,
'Tis the gift to come down where you ought to be,
And when we find ourselves in the place just right,
'Twill be in the valley of love and delight.

Simplicity! Oh, what a wonderful word! I hope the following will aid us somewhat in our desire to be free from life’s undue pressures and complications! My thanks to two of my pastor friends for helping me put it together!

A Louisville policeman was late for work one day and was told to write out his excuse, which had better be a good one. His report read: “Due to strenuous exertion of psychophysical facilities, I experienced no revivification from my comatose condition by external stimuli.” When asked if heaven’s name that meant, he replied, “My alarm clock didn’t wake me!”

Simplifying always helps.

For instance, my hat is off to the Wall Street Journal for this assistance. What’s the difference between a “million” and a “billion”? Will, if you spent $1,000 a day it would take you two years and nine months to spend one million. But at $1,000 per day, 2,739 years to exhaust one billion.

Life itself needs simplifying.

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