Celebrating SimplicitySample

Simple Celebrations

One of my summer neighbors had just wrapped up a birthday party on her porch. All the kids in the immediate neighborhood had been invited to celebrate her young son’s birthday. Paper products, cake crumbs and wrapping paper were everywhere. It was a mess, but she said this was nothing compared to what she would have had to do back home. There she would have felt the need to put together a carnival for thirty children and a cocktail party for their parents to socialize at while the birthday party was going on. I was exhausted just listening to her describe it!

Later I thought back to the times when I have gone overboard on a celebration: too many gifts, too many guests, too much food. Here are some good questions to ask when planning a party or a celebration: Is it possible to celebrate the event well without a major production costing lots of energy and money? What is a reasonable celebration for a younger child? An older child? A teenager or young adult? When is it appropriate to go all out?

The discipline of simplicity invites us to keep a perspective that is not dictated by the neighborhood we live in or the groups we associate with. We are encouraged to do activities that bring joy to everyone involved, including the person who has to plan it, host it and clean it up. It is okay to celebrate in a way that honors our particular time constraints, economic realities and energy levels.

From Spiritual Disciplines Devotional by Valerie E. Hess.