Jay Shafer has it good… he decided to downsize his life, exit the rat race and live simply by focusing on simply living and pursuing what he wants to do with his life rather than letting money worries control him. Personally, I find him a huge inspiration … check it out and let me know if you had a chance to downsize, how would you go about doing it?
Dee Williams came to the same conclusion and proudly shows off the house she built with her own hands with nothing more than a few blueprints from the internet and some friends. $10,000 and 3 months later, she owns her own home, uses solar power, spends about $10/mo or less on utility bills and best of all, is flexible to live anywhere she wishes. Does it get any better than this? In an era of excess and sorrounded by a failing economy and constant fears of job loss, financial disaster and other things, can you honestly say that our more common paradigm of living is serving us well?
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1 Comment
I’d like to raise an issue for discussion. If I think about the way my own mind works, there is a huge risk that fouscing my attention on providing spiritual help to others rather than natural help will allow me to withdraw rather than engage. Dealing with people who are hungry, thirsty, sick, in pain or in prison in this world is scary and unpleasant the natural world after all can be a mucky, dark and evil place. Interacting with people at this natural level is intensely emotional fear and loathing is a natural reaction. In contrast, thinking about giving spiritual help can easily become a rationalization for not doing anything after all, it is easy to make a judgement that NOT helping someone will be better for their spiritual well-being. Better for them, perhaps, but at grave peril to our own soul.I think the Lord must want us to do BOTH. But given that the natural world is the final or ultimate extension of creation, it is probably the place we have to start. Avoiding that step on our own spiritual journey trying to take a short-cut, so to speak is a grave mistake. But once we are fully engaged in service to others on the natural level, the Lord will be able to guide us to the spiritual level. The critical part of this process is the leap of trust and faith it takes to engage in service to others in the mucky, scary, dark and evil place we call home the natural world.