Simplicity of Purpose

Looking through a catalog this evening, I found a book. It's called Simplify. The summary states it is "about making choices to restore balance, to build a life schedule founded on the sane realization that we cannot accomplish everything, and to learn to live within our limits." There is definitely a need for to simplify in our culture -- to focus our time, energy and other resources on those few things which really are important.

Then, looking more closely at the book, I saw that it has a subtitle. The full title/subtitle of the book is Simplify: 106 Ways to Uncomplicate Your Life. Does anyone else think this is funny, or am I the only one?

On a topic of simplicity...

Here's a quote I've been thinking about for months: "Simplicity, from a biblical perspective, is not about making our lives more manageable. Did Moses' life become less complex after the burning bush? Did Esther's decision to follow God make her life easier? Consider Joseph and Mary. Did submitting to God make their young lives more manageable? Hardly. And we shouldn't forget the apostle Paul. Few would argue the persecution he endured was a manageable lifestyle. These examples, and many others, reveal that for God's people the opposite of simplicity is not complexity. It's duplicity." (Mndy Caliguire, a great article called "Two of Me" in Leadership Journal)

On a similar note, John Ortberg suggests that, while it should never be our goal to live an unbalanced life, a quest for mere balance will never encourage us to devote our lives to something bigger than ourselves. He challenges us to a life beyond balance, in pursuit of that which is worthy of our devotion. This is what he terms "a well-ordered heart" rather than only a balanced one. And he calls wisely on Augustine: to have a well-ordered heart is to "love the right thing, to the right degree, in the right way, with the right kind of love."