Advent Beauty 14 - Busy, Simple, Complex, Real

Just saying right up front - this may not make a ton of sense. I've been wrangling with this idea for the last several days and it isn't entirely fleshed out but I'm going with it. The other day, something that was shared in one of my devotions sparked something in me - what I initially wrote was the following:

The complex, the busy, the unreflective is actually the simple because it is just going with the flow to live in that way. The simple, contemplative, reflective life is actually the complex because not only does it require us to live "differently" but it goes into those places a busy life cannot abide.

I think what I am trying to say in this is that we often think and act like a life of busy-ness is complex and difficult. And in some aspects, it definitely is. Getting to many different commitments, with different people, at different times, kids to different events, unpredictable schedules. It is complicated. But a busy life also pushes us away from the ability to go deep. We are so pulled and so distracted that we can't get into the deep parts of our lives and faith. So, as a result, we stay on the surface - on the simple.

However, if we make the choice to go deep, life gets even more complex. We dig into the mystery that doesn't always have an answer. We ask questions that push and challenge. We wrestle with God in struggle and in joys. We find that what once "worked" seems to longer fit. Suddenly, the deeper we go, the harder and more complicated it gets. But the beauty is that it is far more real.

I had conversation with two dear brothers of mine this morning and I saw the beauty that comes when people go deep with one another. We were asking questions of each other that pushed us beyond simple surface answers. We were being vulnerable and open to one another. We were feeling the beauty of the Spirit's work in and through us.

This picture captures the deep for me - the sun is shining but there are clouds and the light is diffused and spread out. It is, at the same time, beautiful and also a bit unsettling. But it is real.