I usually take Wednesday nights and expound on what Benji preached about but tonight will be different. His sermon was great, pretty self-explanatory and truthful, as always, but I've got something else on my mind.
Today at work the morning was cold and rainy. Miserable working conditions by my standards. But just before lunch, the rain stopped and a warm breeze started blowing. I mean, the air temperature changed instantly. One second the air was cold and the next it felt like spring. I felt my mood change with it. I started thinking about those simple pleasures, like a warm breeze, that put a smile on my face.
Be warned...after reading this you may know more about me than you want to.
Here are a few things on my list, in no certain order:
Freshly laundered bed sheets -- Nothing beats crawling into bed, especially on a cold night, to clean, tight sheets. You have to cram your toes down into the end where they are still a little warm, and tug on them a bit to get them high enough.
Mountain Dew and Fudge Rounds -- Two words: yummy, yummy!
A new toothbrush -- I bought one the other day and it has restored the fun to brushing. Maybe it's because it's new or maybe because it's bristled differently, no matter, I love it 'cause it feels so good.
Toilet paper, the good kind -- Not the nearly-sheer, poke-through kind but thick and quilted. I once heard it said that men demand name-brand quality in only two things, power tools and toilet paper. I would concur.
Potted meat -- The poor man's caviar. I know there are noses turning upward right now but with the Obama administration settling in, four cans for a dollar will push this stuff to T-Bone status.
A good book -- No explanation needed. Few things compare with getting lost in a different world and never having to leave your recliner.
Skits -- The dramas we are doing at church right now are cheesy and corny, but they are fun to do. I think the big draw for me is knowing that months or years down the road, I will be able to walk up to Heather or Virginia or Cody, or whoever, and say, "Remember when we did..." That's cool to me.
Friends, the real kind -- the kind we only have a handful of in life. Benji hit on this tonight. These friends are the ones you can lean on, the ones who can lean on you, the ones you work through the tough issues with, the ones that have to be in your life because you just can't see life any other way, and the ones that inspire you to grow in God.
That's my short list of life's simple pleasures. I realize that these are based on individual tastes, but that's okay, I forgive you for being weird.
Perhaps the greatest and simplest pleasure is simply...love. Love really is a simple thing. Paul defined it perfectly in 1 Corinthians 13. Our imperfect humanity and selfishness are what complicate it.
But I am afraid that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds will be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ. --2 Corinthians 11:3
Huh. Devotion to Christ is simple? Doesn't seem like it most of the time, does it? But according to the Bible, yeah, it is. I guess our minds are led astray more often than we think. Believe Him, surrender to Him, follow Him. Pretty simple.
Maybe we get too caught up in the complexity of God, the mystery of the Trinity, and His unfathomable ways. Maybe our desire to control everything leads us to focus on the things we can't figure out when all He asks is for us to simply let Him take control. Maybe if we turn our lives over to Him, once and for all, our needless cares would fall away, the dark clouds over us would part, and His peace would wash over us like the warm breeze that inspired this rant. Now that's simple.
And, as always, I do love simplicity.
