Less Is More

Here are a couple follow-ups from the message last Sunday based on Ecclesiastes 5: 8-20.  The first are the words to the poem I read that seems to capture so well the thoughts on contentment being communicated in this passage.  The second is a quote that Kyla remembered from one of her devotional calendars that also speaks beautifully to this issue of finding joy and meaning in the “simple” things of life.  

Otherwise

Jane Kenyon

I got out of bed
on two strong legs.
It might have been
otherwise. I ate
cereal, sweet
milk, ripe, flawless
peach. It might
have been otherwise.
I took the dog uphill
to the birch wood.
All morning I did
the work I love.

At noon I lay down
with my mate. It might
have been otherwise.
We ate dinner together
at a table with silver
candlesticks. It might
have been otherwise.
I slept in a bed
in a room with paintings
on the walls, and
planned another day
just like this day.
But one day, I know,
it will be otherwise.

 “To awaken each morning with a smile brightening my face; to approach my work with a clean mind; to hold ever before me, the Ultimate Purpose toward which I am working; to meet men and women with laughter on my lips and love in my heart; to be gentle, kind, and courteous through all the hours; to approach the night with weariness that ever woos sleep and the joy that comes from work well done—this is how I desire to waste wisely my days.”  Dekker

Praying for you as you live out this day for Jesus!  Choose to find contentment and joy in the simple gifts God brings your way today.