Living Simply

I saw a news report today about the death of Pope Francis which said that at his death he had about a hundred dollars.  Though entitled to a salary because of his position, he never took it.  He had no portfolio of assets.  He is being buried in a wooden coffin.  It seems strange for a man of such a prominent and powerful position.  When he was a young man, he took a vow of simplicity.  It was a vow by which he lived.  Power did not compromise his vow to live a simple life.   

While my Dad was never a Pope, he was a Methodist preacher.  When John Wesley, the father of Methodism, died in the 18th century, he had his books, a preaching robe, and little else.  Upon my Dad's death, his few belongings were donated and those things kept were carried out of his room in two cardboard boxes.  He, too, lived simply never spending much more above what was needed to sustain himself.   

When I think about people who live so simply and have no real desire to accumulate, I find myself embarrassed by the stuff around me and the level of affluence which enables me to have not just what I need, but things not really needed to sustain life.  As I have watched the life of a friend, I am learning more about what it means to live a generous life which is not exactly the same as giving everything away, but it does remind me that what I have is not to be held so tightly it cannot be shared with someone in need.  Jesus through the Word has recently reminded me that God cannot be loved when our hands are closed over what He has given us.  It is something clear enough for all us.  It is a Word that takes no account of how much or how little we possess.  Each of us knows what Jesus said and each of us has to find a response that speaks of obedience in our own life.