Simplify?
This is yet another short talk I gave to the All Souls Unitarian Universalist Congregation on August 6, 2006. Since I was a last-minute substitute speaker, I had to edit this on the fly so that the actual talk was shorter than my notes (printed behind the cut).



I’m not really sure why the Sunday Services Committee picked me to be up here talking to you folks this morning.

Perhaps the committee chose me to speak because they had heard that I had intentionally killed my television about twenty years ago, or maybe because they sensed that I don’t usually spend a lot of money on myself; that I seem to be rather content with what I have now. Maybe I was chosen to speak because, since I retired about 6 years ago, they knew that I had slowed down my highway driving speed from somewhere around 85 miles per hour to a peaceful 55 miles per hour, not only to save gas, but to save my own soul.

Or, perhaps one of them remembered that, for the past ten years, I’ve slept out in my small pop-up camper all summer long and they mistakenly see me as some kind of modern-day Henry Thoreau in my little canvas Walden, where, indeed, I do have all that I really need within arm’s reach and when I open all the screened windows, my small shelter seems to dissolve into the larger natural world. Not only am I lullabied to sleep every night by the frogs who have turned my long-unused swimming pool into their own aquatic sanctuary, not only am I woken each morning by the clear fluting of the wood thrushes in the nearby forest, but each day I am given the gifts of breezes, sounds, warmth and light.

But all these things are really pretty insignificant and are more just signs of my own rapidly approaching curmudgeonism.

Earlier this year, on the other hand, my beloved willow tree fell, taking out a good chunk of the roof on my house. So that the workers could get inside, I had to clear out about a quarter of my attic that was packed to the rafters with the detritus of the past 50 years.

After having moved boxes and boxes out of the attic, however, my home is now in utter chaos. For example, to get to my computer I must now navigate one narrow, labyrinthine path through teetering piles of books. Right now, I’m feeling somewhat overwhelmed and I wince every time I read Wendell Berry’s words “Don’t own so much clutter that you will be relieved to see your house catch fire.” Obviously, the committee didn’t know about this serious personality flaw of mine when they asked me to speak on Simplicity.

There IS, though, one bit of synchronicity in my being asked to talk, in that one of the long-lost books that I just found in my attic was, indeed, my 1959, 60 cent copy of Thoreau’s Walden with his direct call for me to “Simplify, simplify.”

This morning’s readings address the clutter that we each allow to cripple our own lives. There are many books on getting rid of clutter (I own all of them … I think they’re somewhere in my computer room). Instead, I’d like us to consider our inward clutter.

Those of you who know me, know that I look for simple ways to deal with the world. There’s my homemade “Be Nice!” bumper sticker; there’s the quote with which I sign off all my email messages: “In the end, only kindness matters.” I know that some of you feel that such aphorisms are rather simplistic, that the world is, indeed, a very complicated place. I do agree with you that Life is a very tangled web, but that it is, in fact, a web that we, ourselves, have woven, ensnaring our own lives.

Many of the great truths distilled through the ages have, however, been effective because of their simplicity. There is the Golden Rule, so easy to say, so hard to obey. There are the crystalline realizations of Buddha showing us that to find some serenity, we just have to stop our longing expectations and grasping manipulations and, instead, just accept the truth and beauty of each moment of Life.

For example, my simple “Be Nice!” bumper sticker is a direct quote from the wisdom of my Swedish Aunt Eleanor who passed away years ago. Once I had scolded my toddler son with a “Bad boy!” within earshot of Aunt Eleanor and she promptly scolded me by saying “That’s what is wrong with America! A whole generation of kids is growing up thinking they are bad!” and that henceforth I had better “be nice” to my kids by telling them to “be nice” when they are acting up. It was a moment when the clear light of understanding suddenly flooded my being.

One of my own “bibles” is Tolstoy’s War and Peace. In his long and tortuous spiritual pilgrimage, the character Pierre goes through several Life-altering events. Along the way, he meets and learns from “mentors” of all walks of life. At the end of this long novel, Pierre, after adopting and then rejecting several belief systems, comes to realize that there is only one Truth. And what do you think that Truth is? Essentially, that we should be nice to one another.

It does seem to be too simple, but believe me, there are situations when it can be very, very challenging to just “Be Nice!” Being nice can be applied at every level of our collective cultural behavior, whether it’s at home or in the community or particularly among nations. It might sound simplistic, but when things get tangled and dark, it is always good to come back to a tried and true value to clear away the cobwebs of confusion and remind ourselves what we really do stand for.

Now, let’s just suppose, for the moment, that I do, in fact, toss out all the clutter in my house and go live in the woods in a one-room, hand-built cabin. I then clear out all my emotional baggage and conflicting expectations and that I finally find peace and serenity and total happiness in my Life. Is this the goal towards which we should all be striving?

Well, in my opinion, it is NOT! Basking in such bliss would be just another self-centered form of spiritual materialism and, as such, is no better than those of us who blithely buy into the unthinking rampant consumer materialism described in today’s reading. Such “serenity” is just another form of “It’s all about me!”

Of course the next step could be just being nice to others, but, in my opinion, each of us should also go the extra mile to leave the world a little better place for our having been here. It is important that we, at a minimum, consider the hidden consequences of choices we make, always trying to be wise and ethical in those choices and that we should then take personal responsibility for our actions.

I’m talking about considering, for example, the cradle-to-grave truths of the things we buy: Who made this? Were they treated fairly? Where is it from and how did it get here? How much energy is used in making it and using it? Is that energy renewable? What will happen to this after I eventually put it out on the curb? Do I really need this thing in the first place?

I’m also suggesting that, in addition to just writing a check for our favorite cause, that we forego some of our precious time gently rocking in our hammocks and, instead, roll up our sleeves and actually go out to help someone in need.

I myself have helped out a bit in various ways here at All Souls. I’ve also stood at a few peace demonstrations and assisted a couple of times at the homeless shelter and I’ve written a few letters to elected officials and the newspapers. I’ve worked fairly hard from time to time with various groups trying to save the environment from our self-inflicted thoughtlessness, but, you know, there really is so much out there yet to be done and I really haven’t done anywhere near what I could be doing. I sure know that I’m not perfect; I’m still learning.

In light of my not meeting my full potential and also because of my earlier admissions concerning my own bad house-keeping, I’ve again come full circle this morning to wonder why in Sam Hill am I the person up here trying to give YOU some insight.

Nevertheless, here I am. So the only simple suggestion that I’ll offer to you is, in fact, “Be nice!” Be nice to yourself. Be nice to the people sitting next to you. Be nice to the folks in your community who could use a bit of help. Be nice even to the thoughtless “jerks” that tick you off or are just plain mean to you. Be nice by protecting, not destroying, the animals and plants and natural resources around us. Be nice! Indeed, be nice! It really is that simple.