Simplicity arises from a focus on what is most important or central in one’s life and eliminating what stands in the way of attending to that. That central thing for Quakers is often based on seeking spiritual direction for their life and letting go of those things and activities that interfere with that spiritual exercise. This is a process unique to each individual. For example, a person feeling a leading to work for world peace by engaging in civil disobedience regarding nuclear weapons will manifest simplicity differently than will a computer-savvy person seeking to foster a meeting’s human connections during a Pandemic.
The first generation of Friends did not have a testimony for simplicity. They came upon a faith which cut to the root of the way they saw life, radically reorienting it. They saw that all they did must flow directly from what they experienced as true, and if it did not, both the knowing and the doing became false. In order to keep the knowledge clear and the doing true, they stripped away anything that seemed to get in the way.” (Frances Irene Taber, 1985, quoted in Plain Living: A Quaker Path to Simplicity p. 21) The plain dress and avoidance of the social customs of the day arose from that intent to live according to that principle of following truth as they experienced it. Simplicity is often defined as an absence of clutter: of things, activities, thoughts and feelings. A more accurate description might be developing clarity and coherence in what one needs to best follow one’s spiritual leadings and letting go of what does not support one’s spiritual life. From this perspective, simplicity becomes a welcome container for what is important to your journey through life rather than a feeling of deprivation.
South Central Yearly Meeting, Faith and Practice, p.17-18
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