A Simple Life

Last night, I awoke in the middle of the night.  Not to startling sound, or to noises unknown, but rather to an overwhelming feeling of joy.  I awoke happy, oddly enough.  Happy at the blessing of a family sleeping safely in the home we share.  And as I stood quietly watching them in gentle slumber a song came into my head.  It is a bluegrass song and it goes as follows: 

A Simple Life ~ Ricky Skaggs
I live a simple life
A good coat when the cold winds bite
Leather boots for my bare feet
Now and then a steak to eat
I pick with the boys on Friday night
So I live a simple life
 
My favorite book was wrote about a man that died to save my soul
And my favorite thing to hear is Daddy I’m so glad you home
And my favorite woman is 5’3” with long black hair and green eyes
Still I live a simple life
 
I live a simple life
Couple of friends I really like
A little house outside of town
An old car that gets me around
Complications may arise
But I live a simple life

Yes indeed, the lyrics of this song are simple in nature and I can only hope that I can live worthy of the message.  It is clear that in a world full of a constant barrage of information that our truths are constantly under attack.  Information tells us what our spouse should be like and how our kids should behave and what our vacations should look like.  Information tells a hipster how to be a hipster and tell us how many people "like" us.  Information displaces knowledge that was given as wise counsel from Grandparents as "they just don't understand" or "I have to have this," overpower the sweet message of experience.   Forgotten in this path of want, is a key life principle of opportunity cost.  The principle that no later joy can be achieved without prolonged current sacrifice.

Some view individuality as hair color, piercings, tattoos, clothing, home size, occupation or any other "things" possessed.  It is the symbol of what differentiates me from the greater population, those things believed enviable, those things of short term reassurance.  They give purpose and they seem to provide meaning.  The only problem is that things simply cannot endure, "things" are fleeting in their very nature.  Jobs go away, hair falls out, faces wrinkle, tattoos fade and reality becomes stark.  Like the emperor realizing that he was in fact naked, we too are forced to recognize the frailty of the information we trusted and the wisdom in the knowledge that it displaced.

 Despite all my best intentions there is still beauty that I can only see through the eyes of someone else.  Sometimes I miss the miracles that occur right in front of me.  The gift of my children laughing, reminding me of the safety they feel and the innocence they enjoy.  Their world is so small, yet there imagination and capacity to love is so large.  The blessing of the sweet kiss of my sweet Erin, gently reminding me, that she deserves to be kissed everyday.  I am so thankful that I am lucky enough to have the job.  The miracle of awaking in the middle of the night full of joy as I watch them sleep in comfort, knowing that in just a few hours they will be up creating, cultivating and carving out their dreams in this humble house we call home.

 These gentle miracles are not complicated, and to much of the world they probably seem to be the exact opposite of individuality or simplicity for that matter.  But in our world of shifting sand I find great joy in being grounded on a rock.  A rock, that I will not leave for any shifting mirage of information appearing in the glimmer of the sandy distance.  

 In deed my life is simple, each morning the routine is similar, weeks turn into months and months into years.  But piece by piece we put together our puzzle and form our life's picture.  Not a different puzzle, but the same puzzle worked by my parents, grandparents and great grandparents before them.  The beauty of this dedication is not lost on me, as I hope it is not lost on my children.  For the sacrifices we make today, produce the fertile soil that their opportunities grow from.

 What a blessing it is to be a simple man in a complex world.  To work with my hands, to teach my children faith and to love my wife with a boundless passion.  The simple life, is the life for me, a man, his wife and their family.     


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