Life of Simplicity

I am reading the most amazing book on spiritual development that I have ever read. It is a classic, and I should have read it earlier, but here we are. It is Richard Foster: Celebration of Discipline. I just finished chapter six on the Discipline of Simplicity. It was great and life changing. Here is a sum up and some thoughts:

1. First, buy things for their usefulness rather than their status: Cars, houses, clothing, things. Buy what I need, not what will impress others
   
2. Second, reject anything that is producing an addiction in you: TV, newspaper, internet, movies, video games, certain food, pop, candy, anything that lodges into my brain and won't go away until I do something about it. If I can't picture life without __________, it is probably an addiction.
   
3. Third, develop a habit of giving things away: Don't get attachments to things, God gives me everything, I own nothing that God has not given me. Don't treat it as mine.
   
4. Fourth, refuse to be propagandized by the custodians of modern gadgetry: I don't need the newest thing with the newest buttons if my old one is working properly.
   
5. Fifth, learn to enjoy things without owning them: I don't need to collect and amass more junk and collections of things that will sit in my garage, or will sit in my garage after a few uses.
   
6. Sixth, develop a deeper appreciation for the creation: Turn off the air conditioner, go for a walk, study a leaf or flower, grow a garden, do more without the help of so much machinery that I disconnect from the creation around me
   
7. Seventh, look at a healthy skepticism at all "buy now, pay later" schemes: If I have any choice, I will never again finance anything but a home. If I can't pay for it now, unless it is a matter of life and death, wait.
   
8. Eighth, obey Jesus' instructions about plain, honest speech: Yes means Yes, No means No, no flattery, no lies, no deceit, no half truths should come from my lips.
   
9. Ninth, reject anything that will breed the oppression of others: Do I purchace things that keeps others oppressed. Do I get my bananas or coffee or clothes from slave workers? Do I live well at the expense of another's slavery or oppression.
   
10. Tenth, shun whatever would distract you from you main goal: "Seek first the kingdom of God." If anything takes the place of that goal in my life, kick it out.

It seems as though these are a bunch of RULES to follow, but in fact I have found the opposite in my life. I have been talking and thinking about these things, and Kara and I started implementing them in our life, and they are so freeing! I think that so many people think the gospel is full of rules to follow, and they decide they like life the way it is, and do not want to change, so they stay in their life full of burdens, enslaved to a way of life that wears them out. But in fact, the gospel is not a set of rules to weigh you down, but a new way of living that is free.

You are a slave to something, how harsh is your master? My master gave his life for me and wants me to live as free and unencumbered as possible. Living a more simple life has made a stronger connection to God in my life. I have been addicted to technology and gadgets, and now I have been getting rid of so much and reading and praying. It is amazing.

I ask the question, "How can we consume less?" Not "How can we make more money to live as we do?" It has not been a heavy set of rules to follow at all, but a way of life that is so much more free.