Simplicity Part 7

August 10, 2026

When we are pulled in too many directions, our lives become complicated —when we want to love but also to control, to serve but also to be admired, to follow God but only if the path agrees with the one we have already chosen. These tensions remove simplicity from our lives— the simple clarity of an undivided self. 

Complications store themselves in our psyche, pushing out the serenity and tranquility that are our natural states. But if we remove these complexities, only the essential things remain— the desires of our true nature. 

The Christian existentialist Søren Kierkegaard wrote that “purity of heart is to will one thing.” For Kierkegaard, simplicity was not naïveté or the absence of complexity. It was an undivided state of the soul. For him, simplicity begins when the heart is gathered around one overarching aim. 

It comes when we choose one ultimate good and allow our other desires to find their proper place beneath it. We may still have responsibilities, ambitions, relationships, disappointments, and unanswered questions. Simplicity does not remove these things. It grounds them in our ultimate purpose. 

Jesus taught this same truth when Martha became overwhelmed by the many tasks before her while Mary sat quietly at his feet. Jesus said: “Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; there is need of only one thing.”

Jesus was not condemning Martha’s service. Service matters. The meal mattered. Hospitality mattered. But Martha had become divided within herself. She was no longer simply soaking in all that mattered and serving as best as she could. She was consumed by worry, comparison, and resentment. And she may have wanted to do exactly as her sister was doing—abandoning everything to hear Jesus' teaching —but Martha was conflicted. In the final analysis, it was Mary who had chosen the better part by simply putting all her attention into feeding her spirit. 

What arises for me in reflection is the simplicity to which we are being called—not a life without responsibilities, uncertainty, or mistakes, — not a life with a multifaceted theology with complicated theories and beliefs— but a life rooted in one essential desire that can be lived out in many different ways… 

To love God.

To be present.

To feed the spirit. 

To choose what is good.

To love others.

Spiritual Practice

At the beginning of the day, become quiet and ask yourself: Without distractions and demands, what would be mine to do today?

As the day unfolds, notice what divides your attention or pulls you away from that desire. When you become worried, hurried, distracted, resentful, or confused, pause and gently align your spirit with the one thing that matters most.

Inquiry

If you cleared away the distractions and complexities, what is your soul’s sincere desire? 

Prayer

Dear God, gather my scattered heart. Help me to desire what is true, loving, and good. Remove from me the desire to overcomplicate the simple.

Amen