‘Tis the gift to be simple, ’tis the gift to be free,

’tis the gift to come down where we ought to be

and when we find ourselves in the place just right

’twill be in the valley of love and delight.

When true simplicity gained

to bow and to bend we shan’t be ashamed

to turn, turn will be our delight

’til be turning, turning we come round right.

Simple Gifts, traditional Shaker hymn

Shakers didn’t just sing: they danced. Turning, turning to the music until everyone comes round right. It’s one of the things we can take from this line.

Turning, turning to adapt and adjust to all of life’s changes is part of growing up. None of us can anticipate all events and circumstances that shape our life’s path, so we turn with the bends in road. It’s another thing we can take from this line.

Here’s a third…

No one gets lost in a labyrinth because there’s only one path. It meanders, so we turn, turn, turn as we continue to walk. The turns take us in all directions, but lead to one place only: the center. The labyrinth is a symbol and walking it an act of the spirit. It reminds us that all of life’s turns lead us to one destination: the heart of God.

So turn, turn without fear. You are on the sacred path, never lost to God, always going home.

When true simplicity is gained,

to bow and to bend we shan’t be ashamed.

To turn, turn will be our delight,

’til turning, turning we come round right.

Simple Gifts, Shaker Hymn, chorus

Jesus lines up with the other spiritual leaders when it comes down to what it is really all about – this life we have been granted in this time and place: Love God, love yourself, love your neighbor.

Right here, right now, return to these three things in all you do and say, in all that you are.

Mean good things for yourself and others. Work to bring those good things to life.

Accept the love God offers and return it.

Clarity of purpose and a life of true simplicity come from this. A holy life, no matter what comes your way.

‘Tis the gift to be simple, ’tis the gift to be free,

’tis the gift come down where we ought to be

and when we find ourselves in the place just right,

’twill be in the valley of love and delight

Simple Gifts, Traditional Shaker Hymn

It’s been a grumpy start to the day. The cat started complaining outside my bedroom door just before six, looking for breakfast (Normally, I’m up before the yowling starts, but I stayed up late reading and hoped to sleep past the usual time). My husband said he’d feed the cats, but didn’t get up fast enough to do so before the noise had me fully awake, with sleep no longer an option.

Once up and in the kitchen, I found no clean cat bowls – no one ran the dishwasher last night. The cat continued complaining through the extra few minutes it took to get the cat bowls clean. Food down, yowling ceased. I stomped back into the bedroom, grabbed my computer and glasses, then shut the door behind me loud enough for my husband to hear it. I grumped my way through emails while my husband got up and ready for work. Short on sleep and patience, I was none too gracious when he left.

Was there anything so different when I got up this morning than most other mornings? Only that I got up on the wrong side of the bed instead of the right one. I woke up in a house I love, where I’ve lived and loved fully and well. It’s never been perfect, it isn’t perfect now, and it won’t be perfect in the years to come. But it’s been just right for living an interesting life, for fostering the life of those I love through whatever the years brought. A complaining cat and a too slow spousal response was all it took for me discount this place that has been not perfect, but just right.

It’s only 8:15am, and I have options: I can continue to grump my way through the day, finding all the things that are imperfect or undone here and now or I can settle into the rightness of this life, this moment. I can keep throwing my little tantrum or laugh about it and let it go…

[Honestly, who can listen to Simple Gifts and still complain?]

‘Tis the gift to be simple, ’tis the gift to be free

’tis the gift to come down where we ought to be

And when we find ourselves in the place just right,

’twill be in the valley of love and delight.

Simple Gifts, traditional Shaker hymn

I don’t know that we think about where we ought to be much these days. Where we want to be, but not so much where we ought to be. Because where we want to be sounds like a lot more fun than where we ought to be. But what if that assumption is false? What if where we ought to be is someplace that fills our souls with peace and our hearts with joy?

I think we are where we ought to be more than we realize. We are there to open a door for someone else, wait with patience in the check-out line, read a bedtime story for the umpteenth time, or stand firm when the right thing to do is going to cost us.

The question is: do we notice when we are where we ought to be? Are we aware enough to feel the peace and joy that are ours in this place of ought to be?

‘Tis the gift to be simple, ’tis the gift to be free

’tis the gift to come down where you ought to be

And when we find ourselves in the place just right,

‘twill be in the valley of love and delight.

When true simplicity is gained,

to bow and to bend we shan’t ashamed

to turn, turn will be our delight

’til by turning, turning we come round right.

Traditional Shaker Hymn

There have been many times in my life when I had to choose between seeking something I wanted for myself directly and seeking a way that offered something not quite what I wanted and something life-giving for those I love most in this world. When I’ve chosen the second path, it’s always held something unexpected, usually as intriguing and life-giving as the more obvious choice. What I got out of it was always enough.

I can’t say I’ve always chosen wisely, or been particularly gracious or thankful for the alternate path. I can say that I’ve lived a deeper, more sacred life – even though it may not look like what I originally imagined, wanted, or expected. I am grateful for the choice in the first place, and for God’s presence on my chosen path. Maybe the gift to be free is the blessing to choose until I end up where I ought to be…

‘Tis the gift to be simple, ’tis the gift to be free

’tis the gift to come down where you ought to be

And when we find ourselves in the place just right,

twill be in the valley of love and delight.

When true simplicity is gained,

to bow and to bend we shan’t ashamed

to turn, turn will be our delight

’til by turning, turning we come round right.

Traditional Shaker hymn

‘Tis the gift to be simple…

…not simplistic. Simple isn’t ignorant: simple is seeing the essence, not getting distracted or captured by superfluous add-ons. Simple should not be mistaken for easy.

In graduate school, most of the assigned books were poorly written and the lectures often full of unnecessarily obscure vocabulary. I often wondered whether the professors remembered that the purpose was to foster the learning of others rather than to make their students feel unprepared and incapable. What should have evoked joy and wonder – the luxury of learning and pondering how such learning could make this time and place more blessed – usually didn’t.

The gift to be simple is the gift to not oversimplify or over complicate – to see things clearly and to share that vision with others without fuss or condescension. It is to realize that the truth of the cosmos is written in nimble poetry more often than stilted prose.

To be thankful for the gift to be simple is to stop trying to hide the fullness of self – and to stop running from the enormity of this God created and God related cosmos.