“…Simplicity ultimately consists in the perfect ordering of all the parts so that the whole acts with ease, enjoyment, and peace. Everything looks easy, natural, and harmonious and thus simple, while in fact the simplicity is the result of immense complexity, ordered into a unity of purpose and motivated by the discipline of letting go and limitless trust in God.
The path to this simplicity begins with simplicity of life style and a life of prayer. it also liberates us from the attachments, both conscious and unconscious, that create division and lack of peace within. It moderates the tumultuous emotions that tear us apart and undermine all sense of being rooted in the state of life we have embraced with its relationships and group identifications. In any case, our attachments and excessive emotional reactions are bound to be activated by the ups and downs of daily life or by something that we look upon as a disaster.
Simplicity is the union of contemplation and action in our daily lives. Contemplation is not the same as action, but they are not separate. They are distinct but God is as much in one as in the other. It is we who may not be present to one or the other.
Simplicity is based on the truth about ourselves, God, and all reality. It is the acceptance of everything just as it is, which is true humility.”
Fr. Thomas Keating, from here.
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