Simple Gifts

'Tis the gift to be simple, 'tis the gift to be free

'Tis the gift to come down where we ought to be,

And when we find ourselves in the place just right,

'Twill be in the valley of love and delight.

When true simplicity is gain'd,

To bow and to bend we shan't be asham'd,

To turn, turn will be our delight,

Till by turning, turning we come 'round right.

Simple Gifts

1848

Elder Joseph Brackett

Two questions collided this week, seemingly unrelated, and yet... most of our walk through life involves connecting the dots between the 'unrelated'.  

Question One: 

'What motivates you?'

I was still considering question one when, days later, I was asked question two:

'What do blind people dream?'

Motivation. Blindness. Dreams.

Here is a story about blind men who were motivated by, what some might consider, a dream-

Matthew 9:27-34

As Jesus left the house, he was followed by two blind men crying out, "Mercy, Son of David! Mercy on us!" When Jesus got home, the blind men went in with him. Jesus said to them, "Do you really believe I can do this?" They said, "Why, yes, Master!" He touched their eyes and said,

"Become what you believe."

The Message

What motivates you?

What do you dream?

Become what you believe.

Many of the best gifts are simple. Here is a video by Vituc, recorded with an iPhone-

Wafer Thin

"A small thing is not small when it leads to something great" St John of Damascus



Due to a series of events, much like toppling dominoes, my life has become simple. Time itself assumes a different appearance when schedules are free of appointments; when days are not governed by school bells or class periods. It is a dimension of freedom I am not entirely familiar with. Nor, comfortable with. I am familiar, and have grown quite 'comfortable' with 'busy'ness, with full schedules and little down time. It is no small thing to desire a simple life. I am currently chewing on this thought by Daniel A. Siedell- "The distance between the immanent and the transcendent, between the material and the spiritual, is wafer thin." God in the Gallery. I say 'chewing' instead of reflecting because last night I made Matzoh, traditional Passover bread. The key to good Matzoh (and I would not call what I made 'good') is thickness, or rather, thin-ness. Wafer thin. The bread, of course, doesn't rise because of the absence of yeast (symbolic of sin). Hmm.
Several years ago I felt a strong desire to spend time in the woods, alone with the Lord for a few days. It was in the dead of winter but I was, after all, a Boy Scout. I couldn't find the spot I was looking for and before I realized it the sun was setting. Rather than pitch my tent in the dark I found a motel. A cheap motel. My plan was to spend the night in conversation with the Lord. But the room was warm, the pillow soft, and I fell asleep. Almost instantly. Night two was a different matter. On this, the second night, I was in a tent. The outside temperature was well below freezing. The ground was hard. I spoke with the Lord all night. Comfort is a curious word.



In 1848, Joseph Brackett wrote-

'Tis the gift to be simple, 'tis the gift to be free

'tis the gift to come down where you ought to be.

Simple Gifts, Public Domain