The Jeff Cavins Show (Your Catholic Bible Study Podcast) - Simplify Your Life: Examining Your Heart and Home!

Episode Date: May 15, 2020

Why is it so difficult to simplify our life? Jeff has always had a passion for the concept of simplifying one’s life, and now he’s going to share that passion with you! On today’s show, Jeff talks about ways we can simplify our lives during quarantine, and answers some of your questions in a LIVE Facebook broadcast. Snippet from the Show “Beautiful things point to Jesus, and if we can get ahold of that, it will change our lives.” Email us at [e-mail] or text “jeffcavins” to 33-777 to subscribe and get Jeff’s shownotes delivered straight to your email!

You're listening to the Jeff Kavana show. Episode 166, Simplify Your Life, Examining Your Heart and Home. Hey, I'm Jeff Kavans. How do you simplify your life? How do you study the Bible? All the way from motorcycle trips to raising kids, we're going to talk about the faith and life in general. It's the Jeff Kaven Show. And I'd like to welcome you this evening to Ascension's live show. And we're going to be talking about a topic that's really, really important for the pandemic for the COVID-19 quarantine. And so we are so happy that you have joined us this evening. And we're going to have a little Q&A at the end here. This is a subject that I am absolutely in love with is the idea of simplifying your life. And I can only assume that you two are interested in this whole issue of simplifying your life. And I have to tell you that simplifying your life is one of the most complex, one of the most difficult things to do. And particularly right now, as we are in the middle of this quarantine

time, you would think this would be the simplest of times to simplify. And a lot of people are finding out that it is not the simplest time to simplify. It's not the easiest time to simplify, but it actually is one of the hardest times that they've ever experienced in their life when it comes to simplifying. And we're going to take a look at that this evening as to why is it so difficult for us to simplify our life?

And I want to give you just a few suggestions on how you might do that. Now, to give you a little background on simplifying your life, I have to let you know that this has been, been a lifetime pursuit, lifelong pursuit, I should say. And sitting behind me right back there on the second, third shelf, I have over 60 different books. I've had over 60 books on how to simplify your life. And you would say, well, Jeff, how can you have so many books on simplifying your life? And the answer to that is that this is a passion of mine. And it has been since I was just a

kid. And I was sort of in love with the idea of simplifying my life and living with less. And I'm not alone in that because St. Francis was that way as well. Now, I'm no St. Francis, but I understand his zeal and his drive for simplicity. It was about 10 years ago, I was telling friends, you know, about simplifying your life and how important it is. And lo and behold, today, it's a buzzword, minimalist living. And maybe you are in pursuit. of that minimalist life. And you find it just plain hard to do. And what you have recognized in going through this quarantine is that it is much easier said than done. So let's talk about it. Let's get real. And let's try to make some changes in our lives. I can tell you this, I have. And it's been through

the quarantine period here that I've actually made some pretty significant changes in my life and have used this opportunity to live lightly, live lightly, live more lightly than I have ever before. And I feel the results of that. And I want to share a little bit of that with you here this evening. So what have you recognized as you have gone through the quarantine? What have you recognized about yourself? What have you recognized about your spending habits, your viewing habits on television, social media, you're eating, you know, have you gained six pounds during this time period? Well, you know, these are things that we wrestle with. But we're living in a culture today, to be quite frank with you, we're living in a culture that is sick of its habits.

And a lot of times people get sick of their habits and they look in the mirror and they are plain tired of it. But they also get sick as a result of their habits physically. medically, emotionally, they get sick of their habits. And what we have to recognize is that the quarantine has had an impact on us externally, but also internally. And what we also have to recognize is that the solution to minimalizing and the solution to simplifying our life and getting to that place that we really want to get to, well, we have to really take a look at this from an external perspective and an internal perspective. By the way, if you want the show notes today on this show, I'm going to give you a number of scriptures. And if you say, Jeff, I can't write that

down enough. No problem. I'm going to give you all the show notes. Okay. And all you have to do is you have to text my name, Jeff Kavens, that's J-E-F-F-F-F-C-A-V-I-N-S, no spaces, and all you have to do is text it to the number. Watch this, it's easy. Listen up, 3-3-7-7. If that isn't easy, 3-3-7-7, we'll get you all the show notes. In fact, we'll get you on the list where you can get all hundred, you know, all of them, you can get all the show notes in the future. And we already have about this is 167 shows. We've got a lot of topics to go back, you know, through the catalog and glean and gain a lot of wisdom and understanding for daily living as a disciple. And so what we need to do is, first of all, let's take a look at the external, okay? We've got a lot of failed solutions

in our lives when it comes to simplifying our lives. If you're like me, you have already gone through a number of these failed systems, whether it's a time system that you have reconfigured your whole life to, and you found out that that's really not going to take care of the problem, or whether you went on a very, very, very strong rampage of your home. And even during this quarantine, you might have said, this is the time I'm going to simplify and I'm going to go through the closets. I'm going to get rid of it. And I'm going to rampage. And I'm going to go to the goodwill and get rid of all this. Well, surprise, the goodwill's not open right now. So you still have it in the garage, even if you have gone through that rampage. And so many people do. You know,

in trying to solve this problem of this desire inside to obtain that simplicity. Wow, we go through a rampage, the closets, we organize, and we computerize all the complexity in our life. And lo and behold, we're still here and you are still you and you still have the same problems. Well, this whole movement in the world today of minimalism is very, very popular. But in that movement as well, you will hear people say, I'm still doing the things I used to do. I'm still buying the clothes and I'm overeating and I'm still buying stuff. It was Henry David, Thoreau who said one time, and it's one of my all-time favorite quotes. It's at least one of my top 500 quotes. He says, there are a thousand hacking at the at the branches of evil. There's

a thousand hacking at the branches of evil to one who is striking at the root. And maybe that's you. Maybe you've been hacking at the branches of simplicity. And you. And you've been hacking at the branches of simplicity, and you haven't been really striking at the root. You know, what is the root cause of the complexity of our life? It was a great Quaker missionary who once said, and I'll put this in the show notes for you, Thomas Kelly, he once said, I would suggest that the true explanation of the complexity of our program is an inner one. It's an inner one, not an outer one. He goes on and says that the outer distractions of our interests reflect an inner lack of integration in our lives. We are trying to be several selves at once without all ourselves being organized

by a single mastering life within us. We organize, purge our excess belongings, and recreate our time management systems only to find out that life really doesn't change when the externals are merely rearranged. Have you found that out? Well, I found that out. Go ahead and put in the comment bar there. What would have been some of your solutions? How have you gone about trying to simplify your life? I'd be curious to see what you have done, how you've attempted to to tame this tiger in your life? Well, the answer to our dilemma is to realize that it is not an external problem, but an internal one. And I've gone through that in my own life several times, and sometimes I have to go back and revisit that. And I have to admit that this problem is not a

matter of organizing the desk, but it's internal. It's the heart. It's not the closet. It's not the closet. It's my heart. It's not the refrigerator. It's my heart. It's it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's what's going on inside. And what we lack is one one supreme focus that is so captivating that it begs the in the the eternal things of our life to be reoriented. It, it begs for the the temporal things in our life to be reorganized, reoriented. That focus that we long for is Jesus Christ. That's what you're longing for. That's where the answer is. Jesus Christ and the captivating attraction that we experience when we walk with him as a disciple of the Lord. I can tell you this, that the early disciples who walked with the Lord, I doubt that they had quite the attraction to external things and hobbies and everything else

if they were walking with Jesus. So I'm going to get around to that this evening and talking about our relationship with the Lord, but I want you to know that the problem is not, is not for the most part, an external one. It is an internal one. And it is about relationship. Now, when we look at the origins of the complexity in our life, which you know as well as I do, our lives become very, very complex if we don't tend to them, if we don't pay attention at what the Jewish community calls Kavanaugh focus in our lives. Our lives become very, very, very complex. And from the Garden of Eden on, from the Garden of Eden on, we have experienced an increasing complexity. You see, the origins of our complexity go all the way back to the Garden of Eden.

When Adam and Eve chose the fruit of the tree of the wisdom of knowledge of good and evil, when they chose that fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, they grasped for that which was beautiful, that which was tasty, and that which made one wise. And it was at that point when they chose the beautiful, the tasty, and the things that make you wise and just the better you, right? When they chose to do that, they chose not to go after God. And a complexity entered into their life because they had to find meaning without God. They had to relate to everything, whether it's God, one another, or creation. They related to all three differently. And their life became complex. They hid from God. They used one another. And they used the creation, this world for their

own gain. And life became very, very complicated. And so Paul, he speaks about the origins of our complexity when he speaks to the Corinthians. And he says this. And this will be in the show notes, by the way. Second Corinthians chapter 11 in verse three, Paul says, I am afraid. I am afraid. I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ. Now listen to what another translation says, the New American Standard Translation. I like it a little bit better. I think it really kind of, it serves the point of what we're making this evening when it says, but I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds will be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ.

So what happened with Adam and Eve that would cause such a sprouting of complexity in their life with the relationship with God one another and with the created order itself? Well, what happened was, is that they chose the creation. over the Creator. Now, I'm going to say some things, I'm going to say some things today that might seem like, whoa, that's, that's hard, that's hard, but it is. It is hard. What God, what, what Adam and Eve experienced in the Garden of Eden, you might have experienced in the quarantine. Because in the quarantine, you've had the opportunity to choose God with time, with your passions, with your entertainment, with your finance, everything.

We've had the opportunity, but how did we spend our time so far? Because if you're listening to this or you're watching this, often to the future, or in your case, way back in time, we're talking about COVID-19. We're talking about the pandemic. The pandemic, we're talking about this coronavirus in all of us being in our, our homes. And so in a sense, we have the same opportunities that Adam and Eve had in our lives now. And so this is really important. I want to read that scripture one more time. And I'm going to put both

translations in the show notes for you. And again, if you have a question, put it in the comment bar, send it to me. We'll put them together. We'll have time a little bit later on to answer some of those questions that you might have. Here it is again, but I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, and don't, by the way, pause, or don't think that the enemy is not trying to work on you, especially at this time right now. But I'm afraid as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds will be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ. Do you desire that purity of devotion to Christ? I do.

I do. Have I arrived? No, not completely. But I want to. Now, the spiritual internal problem leads to natural consequences out there in the world in our lives, eating, buying, stuff, complexity, filling our lives with stuff, people, entertainment, rather than life flowing from a right relationship with God, it is a constant struggle in our lives. C.S. Lewis put it like this. C.S. Lewis said,

God cannot give us a happiness and peace apart from himself because it is not there. There is no such thing. Isn't that a beautiful quote? God cannot give us a happiness and a peace apart from himself. It can't happen. It cannot happen. And so to the degree that we seek that happiness and that peace, apart from Christ, and in things and in entertainment, and in food, and in stuff, we are going to be sorely disappointed. We really are.

We really are. one of my all-time favorite quotes along with this, and if you've ever heard me talk about about simplicity and finding meaning in life, you've heard me quote Samuel Jackson or Johnson, Samuel Johnson said this. He said, it is generally allowed, this is great. It is generally allowed that no man ever found the happiness of possession. proportionate to the expectation which incited his desire and invigorated his pursuit, nor has any man found the evils of life so formidable in reality as they were described to him by his own imagination. Every species of distress brings with it some special supports,

some unforeseen means of resisting or power of enduring. And my favorite part of that quote, my friend, is that first part where he says basically that no man ever found that the happiness of possession proportionate to the expectation which incited his desire. In other words, nobody really finds the excitement and the happiness in acquiring the thing like they do in pursuing the thing, the person, the drink, the third. food, whatever it might be. Acquiring it never lands you in that place that your heart thought you would be. That is really a lesson to learn, and it is a lesson in the deception of sin and the deception of the enemy. C.S. Lewis comments on that basic idea in his book, The Problem of Pain, which is behind me right here. And he says, all things that have ever deeply positioned. you should have been but hints of heaven tantalizing glimpses, promises never quite fulfilled,

echoes that died away just as they caught your ear. If he says, if I find in myself a desire, get this, oh, this is good. If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy the more probable explanation is that I was made for another world. Earthly pleasures were never meant to satisfy it, but only to arouse it to suggest the real thing. Wow, that is good. That is good. What C.S. Lewis is saying is that, is that desire that you have, which leads to complexity in your life? He said, it is simply, it's not, it isn't the place you land on. He's saying that it arouses something in us and it suggests something in us, which is what? The real thing. It is Jesus. Beauty points to Jesus. The theology of the body points to Jesus. Beautiful things point to Jesus. Scrumptious food, all of it. It points to something beyond itself. It's Jesus. And if we get a hold of that, it can absolutely change our lives. Now, Jesus came 2,000 years ago, and he came and he lived as we live. And he was tried, found successful. He overcame, right? And there was a, there was a key to Jesus that we can learn from, that we can learn from. And it's very, very powerful.

And I want to go into that a little bit. Jesus is the key, the example. Everything in his life, get this, everything in his life emanated from his relationship with his father. Everything externally on the outside emanated from an internal relationship in a priority. And knowing that the greatest joy, in his life would come from doing his father's will. The catechism says this will be in the show notes too. Remember, if you don't have the show notes and you just join me, you can get all of my

show notes for the Jeff Kavins show you. I'm very generous with the notes, with everything I'm saying and the quotes and so forth. All you have to do is type my name, one continuous word, Jeff Kavins, and type, text it to 33777. It's about as biblical as you can get. two trinities and three covenants, three, three, seven, seven. So paragraph 2602 of the catechisms basically tells us that everything that Jesus said and everything that Jesus did came from where. It came from his relationship with his father. And so when he started with his priorities, which is an internal exercise of being with the father, everything on the outside

was in its proper place. You know that when you start from this idea of the internal and you ignore the internal and you just go out and wake up every day and say, I'm just going to acquire and I'm going to buy stuff and I'm going to have clothes in my closet that still have the price tag on it, then it reflects an internal problem in our life. So the secret to simplicity is relationship. It's relationship. That's the secret to simplicity, an internal relationship with the Lord, and walking with the Lord,

and it manifests in a life that is in order. Jesus put it this way in Matthew 633. He said, Seat first the kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things shall be yours as well. Now, think about it. It's your clothing. It's your home. It is your transportation. It is your entertainment, whatever it might be, if you seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, in other words, you put number one in your life a right relationship with God, and you find your joy and your happiness in your relationship with God. Trust me, have I learned this? Not completely. I'm still working on it, but trust me, the complexity of your life will diminish significantly if you'll do what Matthew 633 says. You see, this is one of the problems that we

face is that we can learn the faith, but if we don't do it, then we contribute even more to the complexity of our lives because we continue to give ourselves over to the faith in terms of learning it, but not doing it, and our lives become even more complex. One of the keys that Jesus exhibits is this. He played to an audience of one, the Father. And our goal, play to an audience of one, our relationship with Jesus Christ. And when we determine our audience, get this, we determine our reward. When we determine our audience, we determine our reward. Let me give you just a few other things before we get into talking about some of the questions that you might have. Paul looked at this and he had some advice when it comes to living a life, a simple life,

in a focused life. He said to the Ephesians in Ephesians chapter 5 verses 15 through 17, he said, look carefully then how you walk. We could say how you live, how you walk, not as unwise men, but as wise, making the most of the time because the days are evil. therefore do not be foolish but understand what the will of the Lord is now that's a beautiful word from god for you today Paul says look carefully carefully then how you how you walk not as unwise but as wise and then he says something that really really addresses what we're talking about in this show He says that we need to make the most of the time. We need to make the most of the time.

Let me ask you, have you made the most of your time during this quarantine? I've tried. I haven't always, but I'm trying. And that's the goal, right? What about you? Have you really made the most of your time during the quarantine? He tells you then how to make the most of your time. Listen to this.

He says, therefore, do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. There you got it. There you got it. Catechism down below right behind me. Got an extra couple of coffee. It's actually up there today. Had it up there. So make the most of the time.

Know the will of the Lord. And so I have here, I have here, my Great Adventure Bible, which I use every day. I have my New Testament, which my wife and I read it out of in the morning. I have an Old Testament here, or New Testament right here. I've been using that one since August 11th, 1980. Know the will of the Lord. And that's how you make the most of your time. husband as a father, as a disciple of Christ, as an evangelist, whatever calling is in your life.

You need to make the most of your time by knowing the will of the God. That's how you redeem the time. That's how you buy up opportunities. It's very, very powerful. You see, freedom from the tyranny of the urgent is found in the example and the promise of our Lord. And at the end of a long debate with the Pharisees, Jesus said to those who, who believed in him, he said, if you hold to my teaching, you are truly my disciples, then you will know the truth and the truth will set you free. This is the key. And if you're thinking, oh, man,

I wish there would have been something different, you know, maybe a Latin phrase or or some kind of incantation. No, no, there's nothing that's going to free you up, like doing the word of God, doing the will of God. Abraham Joshua Heschel, who has a place down there, has that much space on my bookshelf. He's a Jewish philosopher that was one of St. John Paul II's favorite philosophers. And he said this about what we're talking about with the quarantine. Listen, he said, Abraham Joshua Heschel said, one of the chief problems of contemporary man is that, the problem what to do with time. What have you done with time in the last two months? I'll say it again. One of the chief problems, Heschel says, of contemporary man, is the problem

what to do with time. Most of our life, he says, we spent time in order to gain space, namely things of space. Yet when the situation arrives in which no things of space may be gained, I'll pause. The stores are closed. The restaurants are closed. The stadium is closed. He says the average man is at a loss as to what to do with time. You see, if we don't know what to do with time, if we don't have that relationship with the Lord, if that's not number one, if that isn't number one on the list of what our kids would say, our priority is, then we are going to fill it with all kinds of binge. watching and entertainment and food. They say average person, about five pounds, just in case you were asking. But here, I love that quote from Heschel. See, the internal correction paves the way for external simplicity in our lives. Ask yourself the question, is this really what I'm going to look for happiness in? Whatever you pursue. And there's a number of things that we can, that we can look at here.

Let me just go through just a number of them really quickly, that if we don't have our relationship, our priorities right with God, we will try to fill our life with all kinds of things. Number one, stuff. Stuff. We buy stuff with money we don't have to impress people we don't like.

Isn't that true? And then when we have too much stuff, we have to rent storage facilities, to store our stuff, and we've got to ensure our stuff because somebody might steal that stuff. Honestly, this is really the way you want to live. I don't. Stuff. Adult toys, clothing.

Clothing can be a real problem, can it? We can get so much. So many people. of clothing in our lives. But you've got to remember, and Emily, my wife, has reminded me of this when I have been tempted to go and buy something, or now it's just so easy to go to Amazon Prime and just, boom, you see it, and you go, wow, wait a minute, I can get that tomorrow on Prime, and I can get it at the same price, but I don't see a little Prime sticker right next to it. That's going to take three or four days. I don't want to wait three or four days for

stuff. I can't wait for three or four days for stuff. I want stuff tomorrow. I want stuff tomorrow. So she reminded me that what comes in the house must sooner or later be dealt with and leave the house. But somehow, you have to deal with it. You're going to have to organize your closet and stick that stuff up there, stick that stuff in the garage, or stick that stuff in a safe or something else. You know, because you know that you know that you know. that in three months from now you're going to want some new stuff and that stuff's not going to do it.

Maybe I'm talking to myself here tonight. I'll get your questions in a moment. But look at your closet. Seriously. If you're listening to this and it's not live, you might even want to put a pause on it right now. Put a pause on it.

And go into your closet and ask yourself the question, how many years do you think your current closet it will last. Good question. How long can you live on those shirts, those pants, those skirts, those dresses, those shoes, those purses, whatever it is. How long do you think you can last? Five years? Ten years? You see, simplicity. Simplicity is a goal, but we arrive there by priority in our heart and daily decisions. The internal correction paves the way for external simplicity.

So number two, what are we dealing with? We're dealing with food, right? What is your relationship with food? What is your relationship with Trink? And during this quarantine, what is your relationship with food? Is food an amusement park for your body? Is your body? Is your body like an amusement park and you are giving yourself a lot of excuses just to get through a difficult time or are you harnessing are you disciplining your spirit and and are you buffeting your body during this time to get through it to become more like Jesus what is your relationship with food what is your relationship with drink a lot of people are experiencing emotional anxiety And a lot of people are experiencing health issues that are related to being quarantined,

sitting on the couch, and so forth. And so is your relationship with food one of entertainment or is it one of medicine? Is food really medicine for your body that will help you through difficult times, times that are extraordinary times? What about entertainment? Number three, entertainment. What has the last two months been like for you when it comes to entertainment? Is it just simply binge watching?

No, there's nothing wrong with, you know, watching a show here and there and saying, well, we're going to watch this series. You know, we got this opportunity. But from what I have heard from people is that they are filling their quarantine with the most unbelievable things that they are watching, things that they normally wouldn't watch or things that they would say, I wouldn't recommend that to anybody, anybody else, you know. And so we need to do what? Take custody of our, of our eyes when it comes to entertainment and social media. And I'll leave you with this, with this scripture in Psalm 101 versus three and

four. It's a tremendous scripture for the quarantine. And it says, God says, I will not set, I will not set before my eyes anything that is worthless. I hate the work. of those who fall away, it shall not cling to me. A perverse heart shall be far from me, and I will know nothing of evil. Let me ask you just taking that text right there, and we look at our lives, we're hungering for simplicity, but we allow ourselves to be led astray. Are we looking at things with our eyes? We're setting before our eyes, that are worthless. Now, I've heard of a lot of series that are worthless. Absolutely worthless. The psalmist says, I hate the work of those who fall away. It shall not cling to me. This isn't

coming to me. A perverse heart shall be far from me. Are there things that we're watching that are described as perverse hearts? We have no business being there. We have no business watching that. business giving ourselves over to that. And so we as disciples of the Lord, we start from that internal relationship of giving our lives to Jesus and walking with the Lord and obeying the Lord in His Word. And that's how we become different, not sitting back and just watching and watching and watching. We even do this in the church, don't we? We just watch and watch. And watch, and that isn't the key to transformation. The key to transformation and obtaining that simplicity of life is doing the word of God. We can be entertained ourselves, you know, as

Catholics, but it's doing the word of God. You know, in the future, I've got some other things I'm going to be sharing with you about your Bible and your relationship with Scripture and listening to the Lord and following him as a disciple, and I truly believe that this is the key to being set free. Obviously, we tonight can't solve every problem, and we can't go through every aspect of it. I do know that in the recent book that I wrote, which Ascension, by the way, does have the activated disciple, taking your faith to the next level, the activated disciple, I do know that the key to simplicity in life. I know this is an internal problem. And I know that the simplicity that my heart hungers for

that Paul talks about to the Corinthians is obtained by walking with him and following him. I was watching last night, my wife and I were watching, speaking of television, we were watching that series called The Chosen. The Chosen. Man, we were watching that. And it's a lot of extra things that are added to it. you know, during a pandemic, I didn't bother me so much. I was, I was really, I was really focusing on, you know, what, what was it like to follow him two thousand years ago and what is it like today and seeing myself as, as chosen by him, Lech Aherai in Hebrew, come follow me. And so that, that lifted me up. That really lifted me up. I remember another series out there,

Peter and Paul, Anthony Hopkins played Paul. I think it was in the 80s. or something, you know, that the series was made. Wow, that was a good one, you know. And if you're going to binge watch and you're going to watch anything, do something that will really increase your inner imagination about your walk with Jesus as a disciple. That was a good one right there. The Passion of the Christ, you know, Mel Gibson's movie is absolutely a transforming piece of work, isn't it? You know, and you watch that and ask yourself after you watch these things, Lord,

what are you calling me to now? What are you calling me to? I do know one thing. When it comes to simplicity, there's going to be a time when this is over with for the most part. Some people say that it'll never be the same. But I know that when we get back to some sense of normalcy, we're going to look back on this quarantine and we're going to ask ourselves, what did I make out of that? What did I get out of that? Or did I find myself doing exactly what I did before the quarantine? Let's you and I. Let's work together. Let's pray for each other in that during this quarantine, we truly would obtain the pearl of great price. The pearl of great price. And we want we want the pearl of great price. And we have an opportunity to set everything else aside to sanctify

ourselves. That is to sanctify our time, set it apart as holy, our eyes, our relationships, our body, food. We are sanctified people. Let's do it. Let's do it. Let's encourage each other, shall we? Wow. So much to talk about here this evening. I want to turn my attention to your questions. And after the questions, I'm going to close in prayer and I'm going to lift you up in prayer. What are your prayer intentions at this time in light of what we're talking about and the scriptures that I've been going over this evening? How can I pray for you? And also in the comment, in the comment window, let me know, what have you found during this quarantine that has been especially helpful for you to set yourself apart and to be different, sanctified for the

Lord. What have you been doing? What's your family been doing that has been different? And you've taken advantage of the time. You've taken advantage of the time right now. And you're doing the word of God. All right. Let's take a look at some of the questions. And these questions are as new to me as they are to you. Linda, Linda comments, scripture says, be still and know that I am God. Through this pandemic, I'm enjoying the stillness and receiving. That's good. Oh, that's really good. I know what you're talking about, Linda. There was a couple of days ago, I told my wife there, I said I was just sitting there, and I was listening to some classical music. And there was like a hum inside of me, just a peacefulness in the midst of all of this, in my relationship with the Lord and my time

with the Lord. There's something about a real Bible, by the way. Something about a real Bible. real Bible. If you don't have one, get one. And if you don't know how to read the Bible, the Great Adventure Bible will teach you how to, how to read that. I was listening, and I guess this is for Linda, I was listening and looking at some YouTube videos the other day of people who were unboxing their brand new Great Adventure Bible. Go and look at some of those. If you want to be encouraged, wow. And all of you who did unboxing videos on YouTube concerning your Great Venture Bible. Thank you. You guys are very creative and you're very, very inspiring. Linda goes on, she says, I'm glad I'm not being busy and I can get back in knowing who I am, back in and knowing

who I am and where God is leading me. Thank you. Thank you, Linda. I appreciate that. Mick shares his downsizing trick. If you really can't part with something, take a picture of it, then get rid of it. The picture keeps the memory of it and the picture takes up less space. Amen. Mick, I've actually done that. I have actually done that. There are some things I know I just don't want to keep for the rest of my life. And what do I do? I take pictures of them. And I actually have a file in my photographs here, photos on the Mac. And I can go back and look at things that really, they remind me of, you know, really, really cool things. But I do know what you're talking about, Mick. There are certain things that you can say, I'll take a picture of that, and I'm going to get rid of it. I'm going to simplify my life. I'm going to unclutter my life. Maybe you're like me, Mick, and others where you want to get something done and you just can't seem to get it done in a real cluttered room.

I'm like that. I've got to get things put away, and my mind just thinks better that way. I don't know if yours does. Put it in the comments. You know, if you think the same way, maybe we are clutter, brothers, clutter sister, brother and sister. Okay, Bernadette comments, hi, Jeff, what's been the most difficult is that the things I use to put my securities in, work, schedule, visiting friends, family, having access to mass and confessions are now gone. I am learning slowly that Christ is the only one I can put my security in.

Well, that's true, isn't it? Bernadette, that there's so many things that we don't have access to now. Eucharist being the main, that's the big one. That's painful, isn't it? And Emily and I have been watching Mass at the same parish for how many weeks is it now, eight, something like that? And while we can't receive the Eucharist, I do have to tell you that there is a spiritual communion with the Lord that has been extraordinary.

and my appreciation for the very talented people at the church that I've been, you know, participating in on a weekly basis. They've just been doing a great, a great, great job and a big shout out to them. But I do know what you mean, you know, make a list. One of the things that you can do now when you're dealing with, when you're dealing with simplifying your life is make a list of the relationships that you really miss and why. And when this is over with, do something about that. Make those relationships priorities. Who are the five to ten people that you realize now? Wow. I love them so much.

And I have to start saying no, maybe to a lot of other things and forms of entertainment and socializing and really give myself over to those. relationships, again, out of what's in here in our relationship with God and the people that he's put into your life, springs our non-complex outer world. And we have our priorities right. That's a great, great comment there. Let's see. Let's see here. Question from Vicky, I have been praying hard for the past year for God to help simplify my life. I know I buy two many clothes. We have six kids. How do I know what the limit should be? I always feel like I am failing in more areas than one. Well, Vicki, you are not alone. A lot of people, they feel like this. And I think

that it really gets down to slowing, slowing up or slowing down and asking ourselves before we give that credit card number before we buy, do I really need this? Is this? Is this 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th pair of pants, really going to make the difference. What is wrong with what I have? Can I be content in everything that I have? Well, we can if our source of contentment is our relationship with Jesus. Is an extra you fill in the blank going to really add that element of joy or happiness to our lives? I learned something from somebody at some point.

I don't remember who it was exactly, but I've been trying to do it. And that is, and again, am I, Mr. Success? No, not always. But he said, and I know he said, you know, by quality and by what you need, let it last. Get your mind off of possessing. Get your mind off of acquiring. get your mind off of filling up your life with things and fill it with time with the Lord. Perhaps when you're tempted to overspend, overeat, you could substitute your relationship with the Lord.

Say, Lord, I'm going to spend my time with you. And that's what fasting is about. And I have found that this pandemic, this time of quarantine, is a wonderful time to fast. It is a wonderful time to go maybe a few days on juice or to cut out some aspects of what you would normally eat and give that time over to the Lord. So, okay, real quickly here, let's get these in. Ken, Eric asks, can you explain how Eve and Adam chose creation over God? That's a good question. And the quick answer to that is that in Genesis chapter 3,

We know that in Genesis 1 and 2, God created the world. He told Adam that you shall not eat. You can eat of any tree in the garden, but you shall not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. In the day that you eat of it, you will die. There's something about that tree. And so there's an ordeal and a test that is going on here, which we all do face ordeals, don't we in our life? Are we going to do our thing? Are we going to do God's thing?

We're going to do our will? are we going to do God's will? Well, Adam and Eve had the choice. They were given free will and reason. And so when Eve approaches the tree, she notices three things about it. One, it's tasty. The fruit of that tree, the knowledge of good and evil is tasty. Number two, it is beautiful. Number three, it'll make one wise. Nothing wrong with that, right? Nothing wrong with beautiful, tasty, make one wise. But when you grasp after the beautiful and the tasty and that which will make you wise, you the big success story, pull yourself up by the bootstraps, right?

And you do that and you don't choose the creator, then you're in idolatry. And that is, Eric, that's when we choose creation over God. You choose the beautiful, the tasty and those things that just serve your own, purposes over God. You're in idolatry. You're in trouble. And a complexity enters your life like we have never known before. My friend, I want to, I want to kind of wrap this up. There's a lot of good questions here. And while some night we're just going to have a have to have a Q&A night, you know, about I can see. We need a Q&A night when it comes to simplicity. But let me draw this together here this evening and let you know that this will be available on my podcast.

cast. This will be available to watch. If it got a little gnarly there, you know, at some points with the reception, it'll be available on Ascension's Facebook. And as long as we have the freedom to talk about God, it's going to be there, right? So it will be there. But let me pray for you right now. And again, if you want the show notes, it's just my name, one word, and text 3377. We'll get those to you. But I want to, I want to end by praying for you. Because I know, I know you want that freedom. I know you want that simplicity. I know it. I want it. We all want it. You can obtain it. But it does make, it comes from a choice. It comes from a solid choice followed up by action. And you can attain that. God is pulling your heart. Everything that you're attracted to is

C.S. Lewis says, is really pointing to something else. And that is the real. That is that relationship with the love of your life, Jesus Christ. In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, Lord, I lift up my friends to you right now. And I ask you, Lord, to draw them. I ask you, Lord, to bring them into your heart in the sacred heart, the immaculate heart of Mary, the sacred heart of Jesus. Lord, help us, give us the strength and the grace to walk this walk that our heart's desire. May we say no to what the world is offering and yes to you. And may we live in moderation with all good things, all beautiful things, and all things that will help us to become that better person. We thank you for this in Jesus' name. Amen. Name of the Father and the Son and the

Holy Spirit. Amen. My friend, I love you and ask you to pray for me and I will pray for you as well. Thank you.