In light of our busy, fragmented lives, Henri Nouwen encourages us to live in a simple rhythm of ministry, community and solitude. So as a community – living in Vancouver’s inner city – that is committed to both inward and outward simplicity, we have carved out daily times for prayer and contemplation while intentionally fostering simple and just lifestyles.
Each evening we gather at the end of the day around a lighted candle to silently reflect on where God has been present in our day (a practice based on the Ignatian Examen). I have found it to be a calming and centering way to meet God again before sleep.
At the same time, our love for others, especially the world’s poor, causes us to refocus our outward lives towards simplicity and justice. Because there are still those who live in abject poverty in this world, including 1 billion people living in slums (some whose children will die today of poverty-related diseases), we choose to set aside our “right” to affluence and use the resources we are able to free up for the pursuit of just lifestyles.
As a community, we also try to be accountable to each other in the ways that we use resources such as time and money. Society teaches us to be independent and secretive about how we spend our money, so it can be frustrating at first to be transparent with others. But, as with prayer, journeying together with others provides a sense of momentum and encouragement when the temptation comes to give up.
[Craig Greenfield is the International Coordinator of Servants. Together with his wife Nay, they lived in the slums of Cambodia for six years before moving to inner city Vancouver to establish a Servants team there in 2006. Craig and Nay have two kids who keep them on their toes.]
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