Simple

"There is only one thing to live for: love. There is only one unhappiness: not to love God. That is what pains me on these days of recollection, to see my own soul so full of movement and shadows and vanities, cross-currents of dry wind stirring up the dust and rubbish of desire. I don't expect to avoid this humiliation in my life, but when will I become cleaner, more simple, more loving?" -Thomas Merton

Why do I allow myself to make things so complicated? I look at situations and relationships surrounding me and I always wonder what the real "agenda" is. Do these people really care for me or are they just humoring me because they feel sorry for me? Is there any truth left in the world? These completely unfounded questions occasionally come to mind and shortly after they enter my consciousness I have to ask the questions, "Why am I even asking these things?"

There is only one thing that matters, love. Love. It seems like such a cliché, but it's true. Why do we get caught up in thinking that there's more? Love is what keeps us going, it's what makes things worth while, it's what gives meaning to everything, nothing would make sense if there was no love. That being said, why can't my love just be simple?

Simplicity is something that I think deep-down we all value. How often do we wish we could go back to the days when things "were simpler" or "less complicated?" I think what I'm beginning to realize is that we make things complicated, we bring it upon ourselves. Love is not complicated, love is simple, because, love is just...give. I have been caught up in this idea of simplicity the past couple of days. Every year at my parish back home we sing "The Love of God" during our celebration of Holy Thursday. A while back, Tom Booth changed the words a little bit and added to the incredible job that Rich Mullins had started, he wrote another verse that goes:

"If our love could just be simple, we could take Him at His word, then our lives would be thanksgiving, and we'd kneel and wash and serve."

If our love could just be simple. If we just simply loved God, how different would our lives be? If we simply loved God then we would just be satisfied knowing that He is God and we are not, and despite this fact, He loves us unconditionally. If that were the case, we would just know, and we would just not want anything more. If we just simply loved each other, how would our perception of others change? Would we see others for "What can I get out of them?" Probably not. If we could just give, give, give our love without restraint...things would be so much simpler. But, unfortunately, that is not the world we live in, people are broken, scared, and selfish. We live in a world where it's not practical to just love without restraint, because then you end up getting hurt. What a shame, but, I know that doesn't have to be the case. If you look at the lives of the saints, they are remembered because they dared to do what no one else felt capable of doing, they just loved, simply.