As I listened to Glen’s message on Sunday I couldn’t help but think about a movie my wife and I watched that week called, “Into the Wild”. We watched the movie because my wife and a friend had read the book and were fascinated by it. After graduating from Emory University in 1992, top student and athlete Christopher McCandless (Emile Hirsch in the movie) abandons his possessions, gave his entire $24,000 savings to charity and hitchhiked to Alaska to live in the wilderness. Some called him a hero and some called him a selfish idiot.
I was fascinated by this story because I saw that he was searching for something other than what the world, and in particular materialistic America, had to offer him. The story depicts him as disgusted by his parents pursuit of the American dream and how neglected he was because of their fierce pursuit of wealth.
I would recommend the movie for the sake of the message (be careful there is some nudity and language) and I’m sure my wife would recommend the book. I think the story is tragic because there are so many of us that know what he was looking for but couldn’t seem to find. Maybe it’s because many of us don’t live it out very well. He came across some Christians in his journey but they couldn’t or didn’t compel him to understand the beauty and freedom of a life TRULY GIVEN to God. This, I think, is the definition of what simplicity really is: To fully live for God. Anything else is what Glen described as duplicity.
How duplicitous are we, really? It is such a tough thing to measure. We of course need things and other relationships and pursuits in life to function. So, how do we know if we are living these things out in a way that honors a simple life lived for God or a duplicitous life that is really for our pursuits and we’ve allowed God to be a part? There is a HUGE difference in between the two.
I am glad we chose to discuss this spiritual practice of simplicity. I am convicted it is one we all need to practice more diligently. If we do, we will know what we are truly living for and be free of the things that ensnare us. These things subtly bring the bondage and complexity of duplicity to our lives. Within such bondage we can’t fully live for and experience God in our lives.
Your thoughts?
I was fascinated by this story because I saw that he was searching for something other than what the world, and in particular materialistic America, had to offer him. The story depicts him as disgusted by his parents pursuit of the American dream and how neglected he was because of their fierce pursuit of wealth.
I would recommend the movie for the sake of the message (be careful there is some nudity and language) and I’m sure my wife would recommend the book. I think the story is tragic because there are so many of us that know what he was looking for but couldn’t seem to find. Maybe it’s because many of us don’t live it out very well. He came across some Christians in his journey but they couldn’t or didn’t compel him to understand the beauty and freedom of a life TRULY GIVEN to God. This, I think, is the definition of what simplicity really is: To fully live for God. Anything else is what Glen described as duplicity.
How duplicitous are we, really? It is such a tough thing to measure. We of course need things and other relationships and pursuits in life to function. So, how do we know if we are living these things out in a way that honors a simple life lived for God or a duplicitous life that is really for our pursuits and we’ve allowed God to be a part? There is a HUGE difference in between the two.
I am glad we chose to discuss this spiritual practice of simplicity. I am convicted it is one we all need to practice more diligently. If we do, we will know what we are truly living for and be free of the things that ensnare us. These things subtly bring the bondage and complexity of duplicity to our lives. Within such bondage we can’t fully live for and experience God in our lives.
Your thoughts?
Griff
3 comments:
The sound track to this movie is also great. Eddie Vedder captured the movie with songs like "society" talking about how much is too much and the more you have the more you want. I highly recommend it.
I think "Into the Wild" is a great illustration of that deeper journey many of us are on in life. Christopher, the main character, wants more than money can provide. He searches for the freedom and happiness that life and our interactions with one another, not material, can provide.
There is a moment in the movie where I feel he truly found what he was looking for and was finally at peace. The images in the movie of him simply looking toward the sky as he is filled with peace were incredible.
As I continue my efforts to imitate - by taking time to surround myself with silence, by praying more, by reading the Bible for depth, by simplifying my life - I can see God working in my life in ways that I overlooked because I was previously too preoccupied to notice.
One day Oprah had some people on her show that had really simplified their lives, and one of the things they were doing was going to dumpsters outside groceries and getting food. Apparently groceries throw away so many things that have expired but are still good, that are well wrapped and should be given to the needy, but they don't due to liability or inconvenience. So these people who are professionals and make very good salaries go and dig things out of the dumpster because they are convicted about the American lifestyle and how much money and resources are wasted by us.
Well, I haven't gone to a dumpster yet, at least not for food. I have looked through recyclibles for boxes! I'm not sure what I think about it. But they are right about how wasteful we are in our society.
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