Name: Simple Life
ISBN: 9780805448863

Art Rainer

Thom S. Rainer

This text extends the teachings of bestseller "Simple Church," guiding readers to joyfully balance God, time, relationships, and money through clarity, movement, focus, and alignment.

Time, Relationships, Money, God

Simple Life

Sarah Vaughan

I liked the idea of this book, and I think the authors have good intentions in attempting to remind readers of what’s important in life and why we have to simplify. But I had a couple of problems with it that prevented me from being able to finish. 

1. This is one of those books that could have been a blog. 
There’s a lot of repeated information that feels as though it’s been stretched to provide enough chapters to create a book, but a lot of it really isn’t that substantial. 

2. There is conflicting advice. 
Authors call for readers to focus on what’s important, and commit to cutting out overtime, volunteer work, and minimize distractions and time-consuming activities that prevent individuals from spending quality time with their friends and family. That’s great. The problem lies in the fact that biblical characters are cited as sources of inspiration. At one point several characters are referenced. The tone of the section is, it’s okay if people judge you for cutting out volunteer work because you’re trying to create a balanced life, and look at these characters from the Bible who were seen as unbalanced but were doing the right thing. The thing is, these characters were doing radical things, not trying to simplify, not trying to focus, but giving every ounce of their energy to serving God. It felt like a contradiction to the reader. 

I support moving towards a place in our lives where we are not consumed with work and obligations, especially sporting events for kids, birthday parties, etc. We should absolutely reclaim some of that time to rest. For many people, removing unnecessary spending, being committed to spending your time in intentional ways, and focusing on what’s important can make a hug me difference, but again, we shouldn’t need a book to reiterate how to do that over and over in order for us to know it. Secondly, some people don’t have the luxury of cutting back on hours spent at work, and they’ve already cut out everything they can and are still feeling overwhelmed, because that’s the world we live in. For them, this book may feel unaccessible, the advice of someone privileged enough to have some control over their day-to-day. What then does one do?

Simple Life Time, Relationships, Money, God