A continuation of thought on living simply

So to add to this morning's post, I've been thinking that living simply has a lot to do with being more content with life. Last night, as I was avoiding my final Greek translation and preparing for Bethany's visit, I was cleaning. As is usual with me, I go a step beyond" picking up" and I reorganize. So I was emptying drawers and going through some piles and recycling/throwing away old stuff I didn't need. (I have a lot of magazines/Lutheran publications to read...)

I really think there's something to be said for living simply. For clearing out the clutter. There's some guy (I think he went on Oprah and got big that way?) who believes that cleaning out the clutter in your home somehow leads to loosing the excess on your body as well. Isn't that bizarre? Maybe its more about mastering the mess in your living space and then having the confidence to overcome messiness in your eating (i.e. junk food and snacking and overeating). I'm not sure. The mind is such a funny thing. I always love hearing about how placebos work for people in pain. They believe they are getting some amazing drug to cure them (when in actuality, it is next to nothing) and they are cured. Mind over matter; isn't that the saying?

I think that's another reason I'm chronically optimistic. If I don't force myself to see the bright side of things, I won't believe that a good outcome is possible. And who wants to live like that?!

So here's the science and religion clash that I love. Is it faith in listening to an all knowing God that drives a good day/good life? And/or is it mind over matter? Why do so many non-religious people like to say that religious people have made up God as a kind of mental security blanket? There's no way I made up God. He's too big. My God would look a lot different. The amazing Kurt Hendel (a professor here at LSTC) says that we should get worried when our idea of God starts to look a lot like us. So true. So true!

I'm happy that my brain lives in both worlds. I can pray for mental clarity and focus. So I'm asking God to intervene in something that science is constantly trying to explain (the link between the body and mind). I don't believe that my God is merely a God of the gaps... but a God of the whole picture. I've always been uncomfortable with that God of the gaps theory. Basically, it makes us look weak. We trust science over God... until we don't get it. Then God's the backup plan. That doesn't make sense and I'm sure it pisses off god.

I guess I just choose to believe God's been in the midst of it all along and is still in the midst of it, even when we can scientifically prove something. Know what I mean? In other words, God's there when we can't figure out the next step... and he's still there when we are ten steps beyond. Hmmm... I'm going to stop now because I'm beginning to sound really preachy!! Oh no!!

Thanks for reading. Talk to you soon.

~1L