Simplicity eases suffering

ACCIDENTS happen. And when they do, we unavoidably suffer. Some days ago, the very likeable celebrity, Kobe Bryant, died in a helicopter crash, together with his basketball-loving daughter and other companions. The world was practically thrown into deep grief. Even big, strong men shed tears. That’s what accidents provoke in us.

Well, a few days after that accident, I also had mine, though a very minor one. I broke the rear glass of my car when I was backing up. I failed to see the tree branch that was on the way. When I heard the shattering of the glass, I inexplicably also felt shattered. I immediately knew I had a problem.

The usual instant reaction is denial. “Oh, no!” that’s what we would instinctively say. And then follows a swift sigh of lamentation, as we realize that what we have held dear is now lost, and all in a jiffy. Just a like that! Then we try to recover.

I believe that the virtue of simplicity helps us greatly in our recovery from the pain of loss. It facilitates acceptance and would put us back on the road, so we can move on. It prevents us from falling into unnecessary worries and, God forbid, depression.

And if that virtue is developed on the soil of our Christian faith, it would surely help us realize that accidents are still part of God’s providence and that they hold some beneficial meaning for us. Everything works for the good, we are told. (cfr. Rom 4,28) In God’s providence, nothing happens by chance, but it’s up to us to realize that or not.

Simplicity would help us to have a healthy sense of abandonment in the hands of God, fully trusting in his merciful and all-wise providence. Let’s always remember those beautiful, reassuring passages in the Book of Ecclesiastes: “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens: a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot…” (3,1-2) God is always in control.

Yes, we need to develop this kind of simplicity. It fosters more faith in God. It’s not naivete. It’s not simply based on blind faith nor is it a case of fatalism. To be sure, God does not cause evil but allows it to happen due to our freedom and the limitations of the nature of things.

But he can always derive good from evil. And if we are with him, we too can do the same. To be sure, God will always have the last word, and that word will always be what is good for us. There’s really no need to worry so much.

These truths of our Christian faith should always be on our mind and heart, so that whatever happens in our life, whether we are responsible for it or not, we can manage to survive and come out victorious and still joyful over the human suffering that accidents and other misfortunes unavoidably cause.

We have to be wary of the many elements and factors today that undermine this virtue of simplicity, and instead would lead us to get complicated in our thinking and behavior. The many advantages and conveniences that our new technologies offer, for example, can make us think that we do not need God anymore in dealing with our issues, our differences, our challenges and trials.

We have to see to it that as we immerse ourselves more deeply in the world of the new technologies, we should immerse ourselves even more deeply in God, seeing to it that our prayer life is vibrant, our recourse to the sacraments continues, our spirit of sacrifice grows even more generously.

We have to be wary of developing a false sense of entitlement that the new technologies can occasion in us. This will cut us from God and undermine the basic virtue of simplicity.