Note:
Yes, of course, evangelical poverty and evangelical simplicity are looked upon as stupid eccentricities (at worst) or reserved only for the holiest (at best). But that doesn’t mean that followers of Jesus should skip over them. The aims of simplicity are aims of love, Maundy Thursday aims. Surely these are on-going processes in which there is always one more next step to take. And the aims are easier to reach when we don’t have inordinate attachments to stuff.

Quote:
“What has happened to the Franciscan or Buddhist ideal of the rich person who voluntarily becomes poor? Who lauds the one who sets aside life’s complicating muchness for a heart more devotedly and simply given to life’s truly satisfying values? Sad to say, such thinking is relegated by most to the spiritually bizarre edge of cultural appreciation.

“Courageously we need to articulate new and more humane ways to live. The spiritual discipline of simplicity has been a recurrent vision throughout history. It doesn’t need to remain a lost dream; it can be recaptured. In this case, why should not that which can be, be?

“The spiritual discipline of simplicity may be the only safeguard that can sufficiently reorient our lives so that possessions can be genuinely enjoyed without their destroying us.

“A changed life-style in the direction of simplicity is a faithful witness to a better way to live at peace.” (p. 135)

Source: Sager, Allan H. Gospel Centered Spirituality: An Introduction to our Spiritual Journey. Minneapolis: Augsburg, 1990.