The Art of Thinking Smaller to Live Fuller
Today, I was peeling a pomelo and from it, I came to the conclusion that living a slow life is what God designed for us humans. The very act and procedure to slice, coerce, encourage, peel, unlayer, and daintily enjoy; must clearly indicate an exuberant amount of time on our hands. Fortunately, this activity took place on a Sunday after church - for which the day before me stood empty. But if it were in my stomach’s desire to partake of a pomelo any other day of the week, I might as well kiss that desire goodbye and good riddance. For the very acts of life that are the most essential, our timelines despise and reject.
As it was that I was participating in the art of pomelo eating, my mother was at work in the kitchen, making banana nut muffins. And just that morning, she too, created a grand slam breakfast before our very eyes. The sausage and gravy was delectable; the buttermilk biscuits fluffy as can be; the scrambled eggs cheesy and filling; the grits hearty and most definitely southern. This meal was a work of art, and we consumed it heartily. Yet, in the time before the feast, there stood a woman in her 60s, whisking away in the kitchen, sifting the flour, and kneading the dough. It was in these loving practices that there was even a result to consume.
The kindred lifestyle of traditional times when roads were not yet built and cities took no form as ghastly as they do now, there was a moment when art and timeless beauty was exalted. Never ye mind that the painting of the Sistine Chapel took four years’ worth of intricate design and expression. And in comparison, a housing complex (which tears down hundreds of trees growing in conjunction with one another over hundreds of years) is constructed within two years with no beauty, no environmental reflection, nor any secondary thought to the functions of true living. Our dependency grows on the systems in place. And the pursuit of living fully slips away, out of our grasp.
This year holds a plethora of hopes and dreams for my beloved and I. Our goal of marrying, moving, and moreover, enjoying the life ahead; never seems capable of holding these expectations soundly. One moment, it seems as if we’ve made headway and this course has potential to move us forward. But another day goes by, and the perspective changes, offering insight or discouragement… Our inability to reason with the structure of society is the most painstaking practice a child of God can undergo. For six years now, the Lord continues to renew and re-evaluate our life’s steps to achieve this noble goal. I see now, in writing this, his goal for us is to acquire humility.
1 Thessalonians 4:11-12 says this, “and to make it your ambition to lead a quiet life: You should mind your own business and work with your hands, just as we told you, so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependant on anybody.” What if our lives didn’t revolve around the career? What if we chose to live where it was most affordable, most clean, most simple, most justified and holy according to the lifestyle impressed on us by God? What if we were given health problems inhibiting us from most work? What if God gave us the desire for travel because he wanted us to travel? He gave both. The blessing of the desire to travel, and the “curse” that we believe to be, that the work the world has burdened us to carry, might not be the work God is calling us to, and instead, offers us visible evidence of this break in the relationship between us and societal standards. What if he knows what he’s doing?
I learn everyday that the important things in life take time. Healthy meals take time to cook. Healthy bodies take time to fortify. Healthy relationships take time to grow. But it is more than “healthy living” we aspire to behold. The child of God who seeks after holiness, sees God. The race set before us, we are called to run with endurance. In time, we will one day see the God beyond.
And to close this thought, I would like to share with you a passage of Scripture vital to the faith…
Hebrews 12:1-14…
1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, 2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.
4 In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. 5 And have you completely forgotten this word of encouragement that addresses you as a father addresses his son? It says, “My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, 6 because the Lord disciplines the one he loves and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son.”
7 Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as his children. For what children are not disciplined by their father? 8 If you are not disciplined—and everyone undergoes discipline—then you are not legitimate, not true sons and daughters at all. 9 Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of spirits and live! 10 They disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share in his holiness. 11 No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.
12 Therefore, strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees.
13 “Make level paths for your feet,” so that the lame may not be disabled, but rather healed.
14 Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord.
