Thomas Merton always seemed to walk a tightrope of complicated thoughts, in the midst of a simple life. That’s probably why he wrote so much. It was a way to possibly un-clutter his mind and sort through all the varied thoughts, ideas and yes, even tensions he found present in his everyday life.

We live in a world of many gadgets, which are in turn supposed to make life simpler. However, I often wonder if we ever do achieve the simple life by adding gadget after gadget into our lives. There was a time when I felt the need to have every new wild and fancy gadget that ever hit the market. In the end however, all this really led to was a life full of toys gathering dust on a nearby shelf. As I journey through this life I’m coming to realize that some of the gadgets are good, and when used properly, they can even help to make life simpler. However, other gadgets are merely toys taking up space, and making noise in an already busy schedule.

In the end, as we journey through each day, we need to look closely at what we’re filling our life up with, and then decide if it’s really making life simple or merely adding to the noise already around us.

A Fellow Sojourner,
Dr. Rus