Quotes and Questions about Simplicity, Joy, Solitude and Community

By Dave Lewis
Posted on December 5, 2005

Simplicity
“Less is more.” –Robert Browning

“If we had any possessions we should be forced to have arms to protect them, since possessions are a cause of disputes and strife, and in many ways we should be hindered from loving God and our neighbor. Therefore, in this life, we wish to have no temporal possessions.” –St. Francis

“The love of money is a root of all kinds of evil.” --St. Paul

“Live simply so that others may simply live.”

What are some areas of your life that are keeping you from loving God and others with all your heart? How can we model simplicity to people in our Rio Link?

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Joy
“I’ve realized it’s possible to fall into the trap of thinking a life of carefully limited emotions, a life without emotional highs and lows, is a life that pleases God most. But often results in a tragic loss of vigor in individuals and in the family of God. Too many people spend too much time in the emotional land of bland.” –Bill Hybels

“Restless are our hearts until they rest in thee.” –St. Augustine

“The safest remedy against the thousand snares and wiles of the enemy is spiritual joy.” –St. Francis

What are some ways that the enemy has tried to steal your joy?
How can joy keep you from falling when the enemy attacks?

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Community
“On the eve of the new millennium, the Christian movement is growing again in response to God’s timeless call, as a sign against the materialistic society that worships production and consumption without limit. In the years ahead, we cannot expect the social and political climate to favor community, but we can expect that many more will be seeking refuge under its roof, because the dominant society offers them no home and little meaning for their struggles.” –David Janzen

“Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves.” –St. Paul

How has community shaped you?
What scares you about community?
How has the enemy attacked?

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Solitude
“We seem so frightened today of being alone that we never let it happen…We choke the space with continuous music, chatter, and companionship to which we do not even listen. It is simply there to fill the vacuum. When the noise stops there is no inner music to take its place.” --Anne Morrow Lindbergh

“Do not be disturbed by the clamor of the world which passes like a shadow. Do not let the false delights of a deceptive world deceive you.” —St. Clare of Assisi

“To live a spiritual life we must first find the courage to enter the desert of our loneliness and to change it by gentle and persistent efforts into a garden of solitude.” –Henri Nouwen

What are the enemies of solitude?
How can solitude make Rio Links stronger?

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