Keep it Simple

I love Google Images!  This was at :
http://photos.igougo.com/pictures-photos-p173536
-Dutch_Windmill.html

My dad had a poster stuck to the wall of our old living room when I was in my late teens.

I never forgot it.

It was part of our daily lives.

It was a photo of a Dutch windmill, with one simple caption.

"To be simple is to be great."

Dad's simple faith was an inspiration to me. He only had a grade 2 education, and supplemented it to grade 4 when he was in the army in the mid-40's.

The flowery language of the King James Version of the Bible was beyond his scope a lot of times, but I remember seeing him poring over the texts, wearing his black-rimmed glasses. He didn't understand a lot of it, but he read it anyway. He wanted to get to know this God who had saved him from himself.

And his simple generosity of spirit was an example for all of us to aspire to. He opened his home or his workshop to anyone who really needed his help, often repairing this or that little thing free of charge.

He was a great man. He was great because he was uncluttered by sophistication and pretension. He was what he was. That's all... nothing more, nothing less.

Remembering his simplicity makes me wonder why we have to complicate things so much. Argue about how many angels can dance on the head of a pin. Fret about who did what to whom. Go around and around in circles, chasing our tails.

The old Gaither song comes back to me again: "Loving God, loving each other...."

That's keeping it simple.