Simply Simplify

Quote: Our lives are frittered away by detail…I say, let your affairs be as two or three, and not a hundred or a thousand; instead of a million count half a dozen, and keep your accounts on a thumbnail…Simplify, simplify. Instead of three meals a day, if necessary eat but one; instead of a hundred dishes, five; and resuce other things in proportion. Let us spend everyday as deliberately as nature, and not be thrown off thrack by evry nutshell and mospquito’s wing that falls on the rails.”

Henry David Thoreau

And this was written when times were supposedly simple. I wonder what Mr. Thoreau would think of the gluttonous world of today—our bulging tummies, spacious homes, our crowded experiences, and our inflated bank accounts. We are a people consumed by our wealth, power, and possessions. And to what end? We are like undisciplined children parading in front of a smorgasbord. We want to sample everything and thus fill our plates to overflowing. We force feed ourselves with all the varieties and wonder by our bellies ach when we have filled ourselves beyond capacity. Would the wise man keep his choices to a few and enjoy them all?

Paul's Golden Rule

I try to please everyone in everything I do. I don’t just do what I like or what is best for me, but what is best for them so they may be saved. And you should follow my example, just as I follow Christ’s (I Corinthians 10:33 – 11:1 NLT).



This is the opposite of the world view—please yourself first. The world says, “Be good to yourself, then you can be good to others.” According to Paul, the opposite is true. There are many ways to fold towels. But is there any harm in folding the towels the way my husband likes them?

While it is true that some people are impossible to please, most people are appreciative when we do things the way they enjoy. When we fix a cup of coffee, it is only natural to ask if they want milk and sugar, isn’t it. So why don’t we follow through with that philosophy in our every day activities? It’s sort of the golden rule, too.