Life Is So Complicated

Is it, really? Yes, it certainly is, and we won't make life less complicated if we never do the hard work in embracing the simple things!

“It is the sweet, simple things of life which are the real ones, after all.” So says the author of Little House on the Prairie, Laura Ingalls Wilder.

But life is very often not simple. It’s complicated and difficult, filled with so many motivations, and hard to tease out the good from the bad.

I was having a recent discussion with my daughter about some ethical issues. She made a forceful statement that she was adamant was true. I responded by saying, “OK, how do you know it’s true? Give me your reasoning. What’s your foundation for that insistence?” She saw where I was going, and then we had a very important talk about first principles.

So, how do we live in this complicated world with the truth that simple things are the best?

Well, first, we have to be wise enough and humble enough to discern what those simple things are. And you’re not going to do that by yourself. You’ll need the humility to learn wisdom from those who came before you, and then you’ll have to do the disciplines of that wisdom to be able to tell the simple from the deceptively complicated. You’ll also need the humility and the desire to examine foundational beliefs that shape your life. We all have them, but too many never deeply examine them!

If you do this, you’ll be free from the delusions that complicate your life.

Look at our lesson today in Galatians 5:11-21:

BRETHREN, if I still preach circumcision, why am I still persecuted? In that case the stumbling block of the cross has been removed. I wish those who unsettle you would mutilate themselves! For you were called to freedom, brethren; only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love be servants of one another. For the whole law is fulfilled in one word, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” But if you bite and devour one another take heed that you are not consumed by one another. But I say, walk by the Spirit, and do not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh; for these are opposed to each other, to prevent you from doing what you would. But if you are led by the Spirit you are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are plain: fornication, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, anger, selfishness, dissension, party spirit, envy, drunkenness, carousing, and the like. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.

St. Paul continues to correct these Galatians by warning them not to complicate the Truth!

Then he tells them about the “whole law,” and by that, he means the whole Jewish Law that the Jews had had since Moses gave them the 10 Commandments and all the laws they had developed around the Torah to make sure the people kept the Law. That whole law can be summed up in one simple phrase: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

If we followed this simple (but not easy) command, we would fulfill every part of God’s wisdom for humans. Of course, now we have to struggle with the fullest definitions of two words: “love” and “neighbor.”

“Love” is simple but not easy.

Because the love St. Paul means is God’s love, not the notion of love we all too often see displayed in our world. This Love is a love that isn’t diminished by anything or any action. This love doesn’t depend on being loved in return or getting something from the object of our love. This love is a love that loves regardless of the reactions of the one loved. This love is a choice and never expects anything in return. Yeah, that’s the love St. Paul means.

“Neighbor” isn’t just the person or family who lives next door to me; it includes everyone who shares my common human nature.

All of humanity is my neighbor, whether they like me or not, whether I like them or not.

Of course, this “all the world is my neighbor” is too quickly used to miss the point! Too many times, this sentiment is reduced, and “my neighbor” is reduced to some label, such as “the poor” or “the migrant.” This, in turn, reduces me to merely some cog in a social justice system. It isn’t necessarily wrong, but it is always too small AND allows me to not go deep enough into my soul to be transformed.

To truly embrace the power of loving my neighbor as myself, I will have to deal with the messy and confrontational reality that I am most transformed by this wisdom when I focus my love for my neighbor in my neighborhood! I can’t love “the world” if I don’t love those closest to me and within the sphere of my help and love! My “neighbor” is that one right in front of me at any given moment, and that neighbor is to be the object of my love BECAUSE that’s precisely how God has loved me.

St. Pelagia, called “The Righteous,” was an actress in Antioch in the 5th century AD. She was not just an actress but a notoriously promiscuous woman who had seduced many men in the city. A particular bishop named Nonnus (remembered on November 10th every year) preached a sermon on hell and the blessing of paradise that so moved Pelagia that she rejected her eathly power and pagan lifestyle. She was instructed in the Faith by St. Nonnus and was baptized. She went to the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem and lived as a hermit, praying for everyone she had led astray and living in strict discipline. She died 2 or 3 years later and was buried in her hermit’s cell. She, who was once called “harlot,” is now called “Righteous” because she refused to neglect her soul!

Today, do you want your life to be less complicated? Don’t we all long for “the simple things?” If that’s what you desire, then the path to that place is developing this sacrificial love that makes you like Jesus Christ, the only true Lover of Mankind and the Author of the Normal Orthodox Life.

P.S. The image of God, was faithfully preserved in you, O Mother. For you took up the Cross and followed Christ. By Your actions you taught us to look beyond the flesh for it passes, rather to be concerned about the soul which is immortal. Wherefore, O Holy Pelagia, your soul rejoices with the angels.

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Fr. Barnabas Powell is the parish priest at Sts. Raphael, Nicholas, and Irene Greek Orthodox Church in Cumming, GA. He is also the founder of Faith Encouraged Ministries and produces the Faith Encouraged Daily Devotional on Substack. Watch the Faith Encouraged YouTube Channel here - https://www.youtube.com/@FaithEncouragedTV