patient, simple and kind

Let me be at peace in patience, 

pure in simplicity 

and colorful in kindness.

Nothing can shake the person who is content to wait; they are immovable. Let us imitate the apostle Paul who learned the secret of contentment in any and every situation. Patience and contentment coincide. Since comparison is the death of contentment, don’t compare yourself to another; simply wait patiently for what God has in store for you. Rest assured, it is good.

Have you ever noticed how sin complicates things? If dishonesty is my sin, then I have to worry about covering my tracks. After awhile, I lose track of my tracks. Full-faced honesty is simpler and better, is it not? If lust is my sin, I get confused about where or to whom I should direct my affections and thoughts. Lust is oh-so-complicated. It is easier on my soul to recollect the simple, unadulterated love of One. If envy is my sin, my desires are scattered every-which-way. There will always be something more to envy, even if I acquire the object of my initial greed. It is easier on your soul to avoid that path in the first place. Purity is simple and simplicity is pure.

What color is kindness to you? To me, it is anything but drab. It feels warm and tastes sweet, but not too sweet. (Does color have a flavor? It does to me.) Kindness is a sincere, deep and authentic color. It is not a color that can be mixed by a painter; it is fuller than that and needs no special techniques to make it three-dimensional. The smallest kindness has the capacity to cover the greatest cruelty. If we have yet to see that, just wait for it with the solidity of patience and remain simple, as unthreatening as a child.

I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, 

you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. 

Matthew 18:3