Prayer of the Voyageur

Help me, Lord, to leave my hurried life behind.
Help me now the quiet life within Thy templed trees and lakes to find.
Give me eyes to see each task upon the trail.
Give me faith to know Thy eyes will never fail.
Grant me patience when the portage paths seem long.
Grant me grace to share with friends in word and song.
Plant clean wings upon my feet which now with laden shoes are shod.
Silence me, O Christ, I would be still and know that Thou are God.

Amen.

again!?

So this is just an extension of my last entry...sorry but the idea of simplifying has been on my mind a lot lately.  As I have mentioned before, I really feel that I need to live off of less and not become so attached to my possessions but the past few days these feelings have just hit me in the face.

A few days ago I rediscovered a quote that goes along the line of

The best thing to do with the best things in life is to give them away.

The following day I was at a bible study and the subject of living simply came up yet again.  As Americans, we can not only live, but we can thrive, in life with a whole lot less that what we currently live off of.  God will supply us with what we need.  Further, how can we, as Christians, devote or lives to Christ when we have all of these distractions around us?

The following night I sipped on some tea while playing cribbage with one of my room mates.  At some point during the night I looked down in amazement at the small quote on the tag to my tea bag.

True wealth is the ability to let go of your possessions.

After thinking about this quote and having some great conversations with friends I have come to realize some things.  One, I think that God does want me to enjoy my wealth...but with that said...there is a very fine line between enjoying your wealth and indulging in it.  That line...I have crossed.  Two, I don't think God wants me to live off of the bare minimums...well at least not right now.  I do think that God wants me to not become attached to my possessions.  For example, I got this really cool sweat shirt poncho thing (the swoncho) the other day and I really like it.  I don't necessarily want to give it away but if someone had a greater need for my swoncho I think I would be able to let go of it.  I do want to be able to continue to get rid of some of my things and live off of less stuff...but more importantly I want to know that I will never have such a strong attachment to a possession that I can not live with out it.  I want to rely on God, I want to love God...I do not want to rely on my stuff, I do not want to love my stuff.

"Not that I was ever in need, for I have learned how to get along happily whether I have much or little.  I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything.  I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little.  For I can do everything with the help of Christ who gives me the strength I need."

-Philippians 4:11-13

All three of these events kinda felt like a slap on the face....okay maybe not a slap...but definitely a real obnoxious tapping on the shoulder....but I am thankful for these reminders of what should be important in my life.  I hope this tapping never ceases.