Homilies With Cushions

This past Monday evening, our JustFaith group began the first of three weeks exploring the topic of simple living, fittingly by inviting a guest speaker to share some thoughts with us. Our guest was an old friend of mine, Larry Keil, with whom Joan and I lived for five years in the Seattle Catholic Worker community. Larry is one of the wisest people I know, and I know that our group appreciated his insights and the gently stated challenges he offered to us.

We then began our discussion of the book, How Much Is Enough: Hungering for God In An Affluent Culture, by Arthur Simon. I'd read the book last year, but am enjoying it even more this time around. Last time around I missed the following little "Preliminary Word" that the author begins the book with.

A Christian from Germany visited the United States shortly after World War II. "I notice your churches have cushions," he commented, suggesting churches of affluence. Then he added, "I notice your preaching has cushions, too." He had gotten a sampling of feel-good sermons that treaded lightly (if at all) on the expectations God has for us regarding love and justice toward the poor, and in this case especially toward marginalized African Americans. The preaching he heard seemed to soothe believers -- either with the idea that their lives were perfectly fine, or perhaps awful but not too worry because forgiveness is cheap.

On these pages, I try to eliminate the cushions so we hear Jesus clearly and do not continue to worship modern-day golden calves, oblivious or unconcerned with the fact that we are doing so. When that happens we miss out on joy -- the joy of receiving God's extravagant grace (which does not seem so amazing if we sense little need of it), and the you of turning our life toward its real purpose.

This book looks at both the cost and the joy of discipleship...

Ouch! That was a nice little kick in the shins to take a look at my own homilies! And look at some of the chapter titles: That Seductive Urge; Fat Wallets, Empty Lives; Rushing to Nowhere; The Poverty of Riches; The Sorrow of Pleasure; The Weakness of Power; How Much is Enough?; Living Simply So That Others May Simply Live; Saying "Yes" to Life; Filling the Heart with Something Better than Cash. So very intriguing!

But the best part of all, for me, has been the healthy conversation that this subject has sparked between my wife Joan and me. I'm a bit ashamed to admit it, but in my eyes the "simple living" conversation had been fairly dead around our house for several years. Whether it was about each other's spending/buying habits, how low to keep the thermostat, or what type of car to drive, those topics seemed to make for conflict. But this book has had a way of re-grounding us in some of our earliest shared values as a couple. And what better time than Christmas to look at these things?!

I'd be interested in hearing how other couples look at the issues involved with creating a more simple lifestyle.