simplicity

Recently Bev began the process of preparing to move. In the midst of sorting through stuff she came across keepsakes from our wedding. Among the items she found a bulletin from the wedding. As I looked over the format of the wedding service, a song by Don Francisco caught my attention. I had not heard the song in many years. I opened Youtube and typed the song into the search engine. Sure enough I found it.

That song stirred my memory about a number of other songs by Don Francisco. I spent the next 30 minutes or so listening to those songs. There was something innocent and pure in the lyrics and the music. It was refreshing, the simplicity of the words and music spoke of an innocence lost. The songs took me to a place many years ago, a time when I discovered God.

In many ways my journey with God was mirrored in the progression of "Christian" music in the past several decades. The innocence and simplicity got lost in the effort to be "cutting edge". It became more about performance and less about issues of the heart. The clutter and noise of a performance mentality gradually drowned the melody of simplicity from the heart of God.

Fortunately the alive heart can only put up with the external clamor for so long until it longs deeply to be heard. For the past years, I have been on a journey of returning to simplicity. This journey is not about correct theology or about flawless performance of religious duties. It is about something much more basic. Jesus distilled our walk with God into two foundational attitudes - love God and love my neighbor.

As Christ is formed more deeply in our heart, life becomes more simple. There is no longer a need for validation found in being cool or cutting edge. The words and music springing from the heart no longer need anything added to package them into a produced choreography.

Ah yes...it really is that simple!