Contentment

“But godliness with contentment is great gain, for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world.” – 1 Timothy 6:6-7

“I am content; that is a blessing greater than riches; and he to whom that is given need ask no more.” – Henry Fielding

There is a kind of forced simplicity about our lives right now. A while back, I went through a decluttering phase. I realized that owning something also means storing it, tidying it, cleaning it, thinking about it, caring for it—and that there can be freedom in owning less, in not owning something you don’t necessarily need or use. Sheltering in place has done that with the commodity of time. Our time was consumed with more activities before—and those activities involved not just the event itself, but the commuting time, preparation time, cognitive load surrounding it. Now that we’ve been forced to give most of that up, I’m discovering a simplicity and freedom to our pace of life. We’re able to give what we still do more of our attention, enjoyment and care. We’re able to be present to the unbidden and let slower things flourish.

One of our mentors in Virginia used to say, “if you aren’t content, you can either gain more, or learn to be content with less.” Our desires are not fixed. Our consumeristic, advertising-dominated culture tells us our desires as they are must be met, but that is not true. The truth is, we can change the degree and aim of our desires for food, sex, material things—this is not to say all desires are bad or ought not be attended, of course—but they are more malleable than I think we like to admit. The less we feed our desires, through what we think about or look at or do, the weaker they become. The less we allow ourselves to cope through consumerism, the weaker its grip becomes.

The simplicity of this time, the dream or desire deferred, can in some ways teach us to be content with less. Paul says that when it comes to this material life, we ought to fan our desires for godliness, but be content with simple material things (food and clothing, verse 8). One of them we can take out of this world with us; the other we cannot. Godliness with contentment is great gain.