'Tis a Gift

At a wedding today, I was reminded of what is truly important. A ceremony centered on love, peace, and our connectedness to nature filled a void often felt when we're working hard to fill a void. The whispers of the wind in the trees, the birds and squirrels talking through their day, the occasional passerby's curious tip-toes were all lovely commands to listen, and to hear. And for the first time in a long time, I heard.

The community present at this ceremony was invited to share throughout the day, and many guests offered insightful, heart-felt expressions for the couple. One person also offered a bit of a song that many of us had heard, but few truly knew:

"Simple Gifts" written by Elder Joseph

'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.

Simplicity is a gift. It's not something we need to earn, ask for, seek, or find. It simply is. Like many others (I presume), I work hard so that I may have downtime, a vacation, something simple later on. Perhaps I'm missing the point. Perhaps I need to embrace the gift that is right in front of me and simplify now; without work, without measure, without extravagance, without excuse. Perhaps when I find simplicity I will also begin to have a deeper understanding of freedom. And place. How could this be so hard?

The beautiful young couple that exchanged vows today has already found simplicity. And I think they're on their way to finding what it means to be free through the binding connection of marriage. Wow.