Less is more

I’ve been thinking about “less is more” the last few days. In college I took a watercolor class and one of our assignments was to do a painting that was less is more. The idea was to paint as little as possible to get across an image, and the viewers mind would fill in the rest. That way more diversity came from one painting, because each person filled it in with their own mind/experience.

I’ve been thinking how this applies to ministry. How to do more ministry with less busyness. Less programming frees up people to do more ministry in daily life. Less church activity means more time with neighbors. Having fewer obligations means more time to respond to those in need. Often churches spend so much time and energy creating ways for people to minister to others. If each person stepped out and ministered to those around them, it would be more ministry with less orchestrating. Sometimes I think we measure how much ministry is happening by how much programming is going on. I don’t think that’s how God sees it. He isn’t looking at the program. He is watching the relationships, the care, the love, the acts of kindness.

Sometimes I think we suffer from the more is better syndrome. Perhaps it is a product of our consumer society. We think the more we have the better off we are. Somehow we’ve been made to believe that our worth is tied up in our material abundance. What is your net worth? And our sense that we always need to be producing something to be worthwhile. Maybe we somehow think that the more programs we have at church, the better. We do this with our kids too. The more activities they are involved in, the better people we think they will become…more versatile, more talented, more abilities. But maybe less is really more. More meaningful relationships, more calm, more in touch, more responsive, more sane.

I must admit I am a bit of a no frills person by nature. I basically hate hassle, and love to cut corners. Less is more really appeals to me, because of that. It’s possible that I am just being lazy – more or less.

Back to Blogging

I have been away from my blog for so long that when I opened it, it had basically died from lack of attention! August was my last post and here it is mid-March. I had to find a new blog site to get things up and running again.

You could say I have been “under the weather” with the most snow ever experienced in one winter, yes it is still piled 5 feet high on the driveway. Or you could say I have been “under the pile” having experienced the most stressful months on the job in my ten years at a job I love.

In any case, I am back, spring is in the air, a sense of new life is beginning in me. I even went for a run last night for the first time in months. I did have to leap over a few snowbanks, but it was a balmy 35 degrees. (it’s crazy that 35 feels balmy!)

My Dad mentioned to me on the phone something I had blogged about months back and I realized I missed it. So I’m back…I hope at least once a month to get my thoughts out, because I really do enjoy it. This is a new blog address, so if you find me say hi!

So there’s my first post-winter post. That was easy!