Why I have chosen a life of Voluntary Simplicity

How do we live in creation? Do we relate to it as a place full of "things" we can use for whatever need we want to fulfill and whatever goal we wish to accomplish? Or do we see creation first of all as a sacramental reality, a sacred space where God reveals to us the immense beauty of the Divine?

As long as we only use creation, we cannot recognise its sacredness because we are approaching it as if we are its owners. But when we relate to all that surrounds us as created by the same God who created us and as the place where God appears to us and calls us to worship and adoration, then we are able to recognise the sacred quality of all God's handiwork.                        

Henri Nouwen,  Bread for the Journey, September 23. 

This is one of my favourite quotes from Henri Nouwen, a great Catholic thinker and writer. Nouwen has written many wonderful books, and there's a website that offers daily Nouwen reflections (http://www.henrinouwen.org/). This is today's reflection, one I have used often in Voluntary Simplicity study circles, one of the things I do in my "spare time" now and then. 

In 1936, Richard Gregg, a follower of Mahatma Ghandi, wrote the following explanation of Voluntary Simplicity:

Voluntary simplicity involves both inner and outer condition. It means singleness of purpose, sincerity and honesty within, as well as avoidance of exterior clutter, of many possessions irrelevant to the chief purpose of life. It means an ordering and guiding of our energy and our desires, a partial restraint in some directions in order to secure greater abundance of life in other directions. It involves a deliberate organization of life for a purpose. (Quoted in Mark A. Burch's book, Stepping Lightly: Simplicity for people and the planet. (2000, ISBN 0-86571-423-1) pp. 9-10.

My attempts to organize my life for the past five years have to do with my view of creation as a sacramental reality, though if it weren't for Henri Nouwen, I probably wouldn't have such perfect words to express that. I see creation as God's greatest gift to us, and cringe at daily news reports about the ways human beings are desecrating that creation. I happen to agree with David Suzuki that the human race is one of the greatest "forces of nature" at the moment, and that the force we are exerting on our fragile ecosphere's air, soil and water is, for the most part, dangerous, thoughtless and severely short-sighted. Human beings have lived for a long time believing that the planet is large enough to accomodate all our consumeristic foibles, but it's becoming more and more obvious that this isn't the case when we look at scientific evidence around things like Hurricane Katrina, recent droughts in Asia and Africa, present flooding in Pakistan, and the relatively rapid disappearance of glaciers and polar icecaps.

The aboriginal populations of our planet understand better than most of us that creation isn't ours to own or use. The guys who wrote the Bible really messed up when they gave God the words, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth" (Gen. 1.28, NRSV translation). I'm pretty sure God didn't mean "subdue it" in the way we have. I can't imagine that God is very happy that the fish and the indigenous populations who live downstream from our famous Alberta Oilsands have all sorts of tumours and other bodily disruptions. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to determine that it's unfair when 20% of the planet's population is using up 80% of the earth's resources. It isn't hard to figure out that if everyone lived as I do (with two cars and a 1400 sq ft bungalow), we'd need another nine planets to hold our present population.

Something's gotta give, and those of us who choose Voluntary Simplicity are volunteering to "give" as best we can. For the past five years, our family has been trying to downsize our life by doing things that use less of the earth's resources. When I see the cluttered corners in my basement, I know I'm not terribly successful at it yet, but I'm not adding to the clutter, at least, and I'm doing everything I can think of to opt out of consumerism and the sense of entitlement that comes with living in an affluent society. The fewer resources I use, the better for God's creation. I'm also encouraging others to do the same (though heaven knows it's not easy with three fashion maven daughters...)

In the spring, I posted this little video to Youtube to show some of the things we do to live more simply. (Other stuff like it can be seen at http://www.youtube.com/user/lmkrusze ). The sound track is kinda goofy because I was juggling papers and microphone and computer and stereo (and the phone kept ringing so I had to start over three times and was feeling a bit hoarse until I got it "in the can.") But it gives you an idea of life here, and the things we do to live more in harmony with God's sacred handiwork.