Simplicity There was another session about simplicity in our adult forums. I think forced simplicity sucks. We don't really have the choice to live simply. We have to. Of course, there was a lot about choosing local foods, which causes problems with the underpaid and overworked workers elsewhere in the world in favor of the local overworked and underpaid workers here in Oregon.

Another aspect of simplicity that was discussed was Americans desire for more choices, when actually human beings are much more relaxed if we don't have lots of superficial choices. I don't exercize my right to choose in the supermarket because I tend to live in a rut. We eat the same food over and over again. Every once in a while we buy food that is outside of our normal dietary range, just for fun, or we go to a restaraunt that serves food we just dont' make at home.

We do eat out more than we should. I tried to set up a budget for us where we spend no more than $150 a month eating out. This includes our Sunday morning Starbucks before church and eating brunch somwhere every week. (Come to think of it, at $20 a meal (cheap) and a $7 breakfast practically breaks our dining budget and I may be a little stingy on that.) We broke the $150 for this month last Thursday, and we've been out three times since.

I think the main part of living simply, the biggest lesson about it, is to keep our priorities straight, remembering Jesus words in Matthew 6:25-33 Consider the Lillies of the field...  ¶ 9:00 AM