LIFESTYLE
The simple life
Barry tells how having his wallet and phone stolen gave him the gift of simplicity he was yearning for.
by Barry Vissell
S
ometimes we get what we ask for without knowing it. And sometimes we don’t like what we
get, even though we asked for it. This is what happened to me a few days ago… Joyce and I just made our annual
autumn pilgrimage to Assisi, Italy where, with a small group from four different countries, we were uplifted by the powerful legacy of St Francis and St Clare. Francis especially inspires me to discover the joy of simplicity and celebrate the divine in nature. After a week absorbing the heavenly energies of this place, along with all the love in our group, I was inspired for many months. I’ll never forget the first time I saw
the movie, Brother Sun, Sister Moon, in 1973. I left the theatre with an overwhelming desire to give away all my possessions, and live the heavenly simple life of a wandering monk. Even without going through this extreme change, I have held Francis’ model of simplicity as something to continually guide my life.
ASK, AND YE SHALL RECEIVE So, returning home from Assisi last week, my heart yet again called out for the gift of simplicity. And here is how my heart’s call was answered…
20 MARCH | APRIL 2018
The weather was so hot that, one day, I took our dogs to a local beach. We all had a great time, me walking and the dogs retrieving tennis balls from the ocean. I got back to my truck and knew at once something was wrong. Someone had broken in and stolen my phone and wallet from the glove box. It’s funny how my mind refused to believe what my eyes saw. I had to open the glove box several times to make sure these precious possessions were actually gone. They were. For someone so inspired by the
poverty and simplicity of St. Francis, it’s embarrassing for me to admit how dependent I am upon my smartphone. I have loads of apps for just about everything. It used to be that my brain was in my head. But now it’s too often in a six inch-long little metal box with a screen.
And then there’s my wallet, with credit cards, driver’s licence, medical insurance cards, and all manner of items just ripe for identity theft. Within 15 minutes of the theft, the burglar had charged a large amount at a local service station. Yes, I was shocked. Yes, I felt
violated. And yes, I felt discouraged by the many hours and days of work involved in protecting my identity. What a concept, identity theft! It used to be that our identity could not be stolen. Alas, now it can be – on paper, anyway. Yet I couldn’t help feeling another
part of me. Somehow, I can’t quite imagine St. Francis with a smartphone and wallet full of credit cards, meeting a leper on the road and saying, “I’d love to give you something, but please wait while I find an ATM”.
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