Flaws

So recently I have become much more aware of a couple of my character flaws. The first is that I have a strong tendency to be far too critical with my opinions. Last night someone mentioned the Nooma series, and I launched into my criticism of it based on the one episode I had seen. It was really unnecessary, unhelpful and unedifying. I need to learn humility and greater simplicity in my speech.

Which brings me to a conviction about simplicity in general. I recently finished reading Richard Foster's Freedom of Simplicity, and he identifies an early stage in the process towards simplicity that (at best) I think I am in.

This stage is one of great honesty and sincerity, but it is not yet true simplicity. 'Sincerity is a virtue below simplicity,' said Fenelon. The reason is easy to see. The sincere have a deep concern for honesty and truth. Rectitude, fidelity, conscientiousness, impeccability - these all mark the sincere. And although all of these are great virtues, they have a certain self-consciousness about them: a concern to do right, to be right, to look right. Of the sincere, Fenelon says, 'They are always studying themselves, going over all their words and all their thoughts, and going back over all they have done, afraid of having said or done too much.'

The sincere are not yet simple. They have a kind of artificial rigor that makes us feel uncomfortable, though we cannot fault the virtue. They put us on edge and make us feel ill at ease. This often concerns us because they seem so spiritual, so determined to know God. We wonder if our discomfort stems from a resistance to God and his way. In reality, however, it is due to the fact that these deeply committed folk are trying too hard. They lack the ease, freedom, and naturalness that mark true interior simplicity. We would prefer less perfect people who are more at ease with
themselves. - Richard Foster

So how do you get there from here?