By: Phillip Fackler

After graduating from college, I spent a year working in Malawi. I didn’t make much money and resources were scarce, so my life became significantly simpler – fewer clothes, hardly any furniture, not much variety in food I ate. I didn’t realize just how deeply this had affected me until I returned home. After nearly 24 hours of travel, I arrived in Chicago without any of my luggage: no clean clothes, no toothbrush, no deodorant.

My reintroduction to American culture began almost immediately with a trip to Target. My list was short. I only needed the basics. I got stuck on the deodorant, though. Sure, I found the deodorant aisle just fine, but that was the problem. There was a deodorant aisle. There I stood, staring at a wall covered in deodorant. Brand after brand, every one of them in a host of scents, some for sensitive skin, others with antiperspirant protections. The whole wall covered in different colors and patterns, neatly marked with price tags, speckled with little notices vying for my attention: buy one get one free, new low price, as advertised. Choice brought paralysis rather than freedom. In that moment, I longed for something simpler.

What are the things that clutter your life? What are the things that clamor for your attention and leave you feeling stuck? What might set you free? For me, Lent has become about seeking out simplicity, about reducing the number of inessential things clamoring for my attention. At times, this has meant choosing disciplines that limit my consumption. At other times, it has looked like carving out daily space for prayer or silence. I invite you this week to imagine what simplicity looks like in your life, to find one practice that will make your life more spacious. In doing so may you leave room to find and be found by God.