We Live More Simply and Joyfully

The Bible reminds us that “less is more.” We will have more time to focus on one another and all the gifts of creation when we have enough but not too much.

  • Having more than we need makes it harder to enjoy what we have.
  • When too many have more than they need, there isn’t enough for everyone else.
  • Having fewer “things” gifts us with more time to notice and enjoy: creation, people, our own special creative gifts.
  • It helps us to become more aware of God’s great unconditional Love for us and desire for connection with us through all the ways we can be a community for one another as well as in the midst of the joy of prayer.
  • We don’t need to own lots of things to enjoy life and be happy.

Scripture Focus

“Do not worry.”  Luke 12: 7-31  (adapted)

Reader: Do not worry about your life, what you will eat, or about your body, what you will wear.  For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing.  Consider the ravens:  they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse or barn, and yet God feeds them. Consider the lilies, how they grow:  they neither toil nor spin; yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory wasn’t clothed like one of these. But if God provides for these, will God not also provide abundantly for you.  Your Father knows what you need.  Strive for God’s kingdom, and what you desire will be given to you.

  • Take a few quiet moments to think about what you just heard.  
  • Share with one another the blessings your family enjoys.  Have each person name at least one thing for which they are grateful. Talk about the ways you share with one another and others.
  • Are there any new ways you can share your “riches?” 

Write your own prayer of gratitude and willingness to share in your journal.  Add some pictures and/or words of what you could share during the week ahead.

Gratitude Video

Watch this video as a family.  It helps us remember the gift that each day unfolds for us.

From Laudato Si

(Parents talk to children about these words of Pope Francis.)

We need to take up an ancient lesson, found in different religious traditions and also in the Bible. It is the conviction that “less is more”. A constant flood of new consumer goods can baffle the heart and prevent us from cherishing each thing and each moment …It is a return to that simplicity which allows us to stop and appreciate the small things, to be grateful for the opportunities which life affords us, to be spiritually detached from what we possess, and not succumb to sadness for what we lack ..It is not a lesser life or one lived with less intensity. On the contrary, it is a way of living life to the full.

Handout and Reflection on “Needs vs. Wants”

After you reflect on the problems listed below, use the handout (click to download) to reflect on your sense of needs vs. wants. 

Problems with “too much”:

Too much food

Impact on the individual of too much (particularly of the wrong kind of food)

  • We become unhealthy and/or overweight.
  • We feel bad about wasting.
  • Impact on the earth & others
  • Many wasted resources producing and transporting Less food for those who need it
  • Expensive

Too much technology

Impact on the individual

  • Cut us off from others
  • Less exercise/health
  • Can disturb our attention levels or sleep

 Impact on the earth & others:

  • Wasted resources, especially with frequent upgrades
  • Difficult to recycle
  • Expensive

Too much driving

Impact on the individual

  • Less exercise/health

Impact on the earth & others

  • Fossil fuels: pollution, greenhouse gases
  • Cuts us off from our neighborhood, others (meeting, talking to people)
  • Expensive

Song

Video

For children

For adults

 

Books to Read

 

Children:

  • Play Like an Animal Why Critters Splash, Race, Twirl, and Chase, by Maria Gianferrari
  • Like a Bird The Art of the American Slave Song, by Cynthia Grady
  • Save the Planet Reduce, Reuse, And Recycle, by Cecilia Minden

Adults:

  • Seven Thousand Ways to Listen Staying Close to What Is Sacred, by Mark Nepo
  • The Story of More, by Hope Jahran
  • Wrestling with God, by Ronald Rolheiser
  • Adults: Read chapters 5 and 6 of Laudato Si

 

🌲And now for the surprise🌳

There will be a bag on the porch of the rectory filled with small earth balls. I invite you to stop by and pick up one. Before you go to bed at night I invite you to hold this small ball and pray: Loving, Creator God, please bring healing and peace to our earth.

Thank you for being with us for Earthkeepers. I have enjoyed planning these sessions for you. On Tuesday, August 11 I will be starting a new series called “Problem Solvers”.

This series will introduce you to people, children and adults, who are creation caretakers in various fields. I look forward to being with you for this next adventure..

 Therese Fenzl, Director of Spiritual Ministries