If Only For A Moment
by Julie geisen-Ritchey
“Then in a certain sense it is nothing I shall do…in this silence is the beginning.”
-Kierkegaard
The moments of simplicity may be different for each of us…
It may come in an exhalation during a hectic afternoon,
It may come in a sip of coffee before starting a day full of schedules and planning,
It may come in a moment of silence as the children rest for one brief second,
It may come while driving in the car listening to Louis Armstrong,
It may come while staring at a Renoir painting,
It may come in the evening sunset with a glass of wine.
This inner simplicity comes to us in many forms, in expected and unexpected moments, as our hearts pause in the midst of chaos, becoming fully present to the beating of our heart and the connection we have to something Greater.
Most often for me, I experience these moments while being surrounded by the trees, or at the shore of moving water, or sitting under the expansive sky, or being caught by surprise with the magical beauty of nature. I remember a specific moment like this when I was in Indonesia visiting my parents years ago. At the time I had recently gone through divorce. I was wandering around the world searching for a new home with no direction really, barely any money, and a heart that was limping along… slowly healing day by day. There I was sitting alone in an Indonesian coffee shop under a thatched roof, surrounded by vining plants and I wrote, “And I sit in the rain behind a canopy of green as the water sprinkles the earth…just as I imagined I someday would…and with no need or worry or hurry to be anywhere but here. And how grateful my spirit is to experience such a moment…as the heart shape leaves dangle in my gaze.”
Regardless of the form the moment of simplicity finds you, or maybe better said, you find it, this moment offers a deep rest, a relief from life’s complexities, a feeling of lightness, a transcendence of sort beyond the earthly worries and ever so briefly a feeling that everything is deeply okay in this very moment. This moment of inner serenity is a gift, a moment to embrace as it doesn’t seem to last too long. A moment of fully trusting the words of Jesus when he says. “Do not be anxious about your life…” And isn’t this what we really want, what we deeply long for?
How do we get this or more of this? I like to believe this way of Simplicity is available to us always and it is our choice to participate in it by opening our eyes to the present, slowing our minds to take pause. I have found when I do this the simplicity is there and a moment of deep peace awakens. Perhaps this rest we long for is constantly available to us if we choose it. Perhaps these moments aren’t meant to be a continual state; would we feel it or appreciate it if we didn’t have the chaos, if we didn’t have the unrest, the hurt, the pain, if we didn’t have the hectic days of laundry and dishes and fixing the roof? And perhaps these moments of simplicity are available even during the difficult times just enough to keep us moving towards something Greater, something bigger than ourselves, towards Love itself.
As Richard Foster suggests, the more we experience this inner simplicity it transpires into an outward expression of not needing as much. Our desires for nicer things, more things, better things transforms into feelings of gratefulness for what we do have, an awareness of the heavy clutter that weighs us down, and a more generous spirit to give. It has been my experience of when I participate in these moments of inner simplicity, the less I need. My deepest longings are being fulfilled in a spiritual way of experiencing peace, feeling loved, being at rest, and this is all I really need. Everything else is a gift.
Write this way: For this day may you open yourself up to a moment of simplicity, or perhaps many moments. May you feel the stillness, the peace, the Love that is there for you. May you feel the lightness and freedom as your inner simplicity transpires to externally needing less because you have what your soul truly needs.
About The Author
Jules grew up in southern Indiana and has lived in Michigan, California, a brief time in France and has now settled into the farm life in Markleville, IN. After graduating with a MA in School Counseling from Andrews University in 2010 her life took a different path, leading her in an unexpected nomadic way of living for 3 and a half years. During this time of moving about in Michigan, staying in North Carolina and New York, traveling through France and several trips to Indonesia there was much to learn about culture, people, family, and herself. Finally in 2014 Jules found her new home with Cliff and Cove and Bella and has been settling into doing photography and music with Cliff and learning the ways of motherhood. Life couldn’t be more different and better than ever imagined.
