Sull'Autore
Philip Harnden was the publisher of The Other Side, a magazine of spirituality and social action, for a dozen years. A Quaker, he has written on subjects as diverse as the land rights of Native Americans and the spiritual life of Fritz Eichenberg. A former correspondent for Religion News Service, mostra altro Harnden has also been a commentator on North Country Public Radio. He lives in northern New York State, not far from the Canadian borde mostra meno
Opere di Philip Harnden
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- Sesso
- male
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Letting That Go, Keeping This: The Spiritual… di Philip Harnden
Fritz Eichenberg, internationally known woodcut artist, has inspired a generation of Quakers and Catholics in their social witness. This author eloquently elucidates five important inspirations for the artist: animals, Lao-Tzu, Russian novelists, Quakers, and the Catholic Worker. With illustrations by Fritz Eichenberg.
What a fabulous book! This is one that I checked out of the library and now must buy multiple copies. I really want to have one of my own and I think it will make a delightful gift for others. These short pieces are startling, inspiring and fun all in turn. I just wish there were more. It is a small book that I thought I could finish quickly, but found myself needing time to ponder each tale. It includes an excellent bibliography, so that I can track down more about these folks.
If there was ever a book that could combine poetry with simplicity, this is that book. After a brief introduction, Harnden introduces us to about 40 travelers – some are famous, others are unnamed. Several are fictional. Each has a short backstory, followed usually by a poetic listing of their possessions at some point in time.
Journeys of Simplicity would be an easy book to overlook and quickly forget. Without any trouble one could gobble it up in an hour. The subject isn’t splashy; its focus is often on the mundane.
Yet, to do so I think would be a travesty.
Part of what makes the book easily dismissible is its approach. Harnden does not weave a tight argument or tell an elaborate story. All are snapshots, poetic glimpses at particular moments. He speaks less to the mind, but rather gently tugs at your heart, which I think is the right approach. True simplicity must begin with the heart. Otherwise, it becomes moralism.
Some reflections:
1. Its subtitle Traveling Light speaks a profound lesson in its double meaning. I realized the intended pun only on a second reading. It seems that if we are to find the elusive Light of life, we must travel light and shed the weight of our belongings.
2. Throughout his vignettes, Harnden underscores a prerequisite toughness, often an embrace of discomfort, or a willingness to “leave comfort behind.” In our search for Light we must be willing to suffer.
3. So often I feel the pull or desire for relevance – for influence. Many of the people in these snapshots I had never heard of. And truth is, many who have lived most connected to the Light will go unnamed, uncelebrated, and unknown outside of their small circles. To me, it seems the desire for influence is rooted in distrust of divine benevolence. It lacks the meekness and humility, assumed in the Beatitudes. A latent surrender to life permeates most of the book.
4. A well-read friend who happens to be a self-proclaimed communist (and atheist) once said that the only book he knows that makes poverty a virtue was the New Testament. Christians rarely are so honest. We spend more time trying to explain away these scriptures than recognizing any danger that wealth brings. And yet! To make this some sort of law or contest on who has the least would obviously miss the point entirely. I wish we could be more honest in our hypocrisy and at the same time shower one another in grace.
On the opposite coin, I've found some who idolize poverty. The idea partly is: If I struggle, or if I suffer, it means I’m alive, that I actually experience this wild thing we call life rather than merely live vicariously through others. I see this tendency in myself – to give the false impression of toughness, to have experienced the darker aspects of life. I think it is easy for the rich to fantasize about poverty (and danger), because I do it. And I think part of the motivation for it comes from the heaviness of our possessions. We long for a lightness of being, instead of being owned by the things we own. Or to put it another way – life’s depth calls us to pay attention, but often we are distracted by our possessions and attachments.
I say all that (on #4) and feel they are all half-baked ideas needing more time in the oven.
Some Favorite Quotes:
“We take delight in things; we take delight in being loosed from things. Between these two delights, we must dance our lives.” – the author
To me it seems we need a lightness to our possessions, a light-heartedness or open-handedness, where we can laugh in abundance and in lack. Otherwise we are too serious in being good stewards or too serious in living with less. The seriousness of both quenches our joy in being.
“Today, ... [people have] to learn to live without things. Things [fill people] with fear: the more things they [have], the more they [have] to fear. Things [have] a way of riveting themselves on to the soul and then telling the soul what to do.” – Father Terence in the book The Songlines
Open-handedness releases our illusion of control and frees us from this fear.
“Do not save up things for some longed-for future, but use up the best in you each day and trust that more will come.” – Raymond Carver (verb tense changed)
This epitomizes a scarcity mindset verses an abundance mindset for me.
”My body is like a drifting cloud…. I ask for nothing, I want nothing. My greatest joy is a quiet nap; my only desire for this life is to see the beauties of the seasons.” - Kamo No Chomei (1153-1216)
I was moved by the story of Peace Pilgrim (formerly Mildred Lisette Norman). She walked over 25,000 miles for peace and said, “I walk until given shelter, fast until given food.”… (altro)
Journeys of Simplicity would be an easy book to overlook and quickly forget. Without any trouble one could gobble it up in an hour. The subject isn’t splashy; its focus is often on the mundane.
Yet, to do so I think would be a travesty.
Part of what makes the book easily dismissible is its approach. Harnden does not weave a tight argument or tell an elaborate story. All are snapshots, poetic glimpses at particular moments. He speaks less to the mind, but rather gently tugs at your heart, which I think is the right approach. True simplicity must begin with the heart. Otherwise, it becomes moralism.
Some reflections:
1. Its subtitle Traveling Light speaks a profound lesson in its double meaning. I realized the intended pun only on a second reading. It seems that if we are to find the elusive Light of life, we must travel light and shed the weight of our belongings.
2. Throughout his vignettes, Harnden underscores a prerequisite toughness, often an embrace of discomfort, or a willingness to “leave comfort behind.” In our search for Light we must be willing to suffer.
3. So often I feel the pull or desire for relevance – for influence. Many of the people in these snapshots I had never heard of. And truth is, many who have lived most connected to the Light will go unnamed, uncelebrated, and unknown outside of their small circles. To me, it seems the desire for influence is rooted in distrust of divine benevolence. It lacks the meekness and humility, assumed in the Beatitudes. A latent surrender to life permeates most of the book.
4. A well-read friend who happens to be a self-proclaimed communist (and atheist) once said that the only book he knows that makes poverty a virtue was the New Testament. Christians rarely are so honest. We spend more time trying to explain away these scriptures than recognizing any danger that wealth brings. And yet! To make this some sort of law or contest on who has the least would obviously miss the point entirely. I wish we could be more honest in our hypocrisy and at the same time shower one another in grace.
On the opposite coin, I've found some who idolize poverty. The idea partly is: If I struggle, or if I suffer, it means I’m alive, that I actually experience this wild thing we call life rather than merely live vicariously through others. I see this tendency in myself – to give the false impression of toughness, to have experienced the darker aspects of life. I think it is easy for the rich to fantasize about poverty (and danger), because I do it. And I think part of the motivation for it comes from the heaviness of our possessions. We long for a lightness of being, instead of being owned by the things we own. Or to put it another way – life’s depth calls us to pay attention, but often we are distracted by our possessions and attachments.
I say all that (on #4) and feel they are all half-baked ideas needing more time in the oven.
Some Favorite Quotes:
“We take delight in things; we take delight in being loosed from things. Between these two delights, we must dance our lives.” – the author
To me it seems we need a lightness to our possessions, a light-heartedness or open-handedness, where we can laugh in abundance and in lack. Otherwise we are too serious in being good stewards or too serious in living with less. The seriousness of both quenches our joy in being.
“Today, ... [people have] to learn to live without things. Things [fill people] with fear: the more things they [have], the more they [have] to fear. Things [have] a way of riveting themselves on to the soul and then telling the soul what to do.” – Father Terence in the book The Songlines
Open-handedness releases our illusion of control and frees us from this fear.
“Do not save up things for some longed-for future, but use up the best in you each day and trust that more will come.” – Raymond Carver (verb tense changed)
This epitomizes a scarcity mindset verses an abundance mindset for me.
”My body is like a drifting cloud…. I ask for nothing, I want nothing. My greatest joy is a quiet nap; my only desire for this life is to see the beauties of the seasons.” - Kamo No Chomei (1153-1216)
I was moved by the story of Peace Pilgrim (formerly Mildred Lisette Norman). She walked over 25,000 miles for peace and said, “I walk until given shelter, fast until given food.”… (altro)
I had no idea what a treasure I would be getting when I ordered this little book. It is so much more than a book about travel or simplifying one’s life or any of the other trendy topics on the best-seller lists these days. Philip Harnden has created a jewel for the reader to take a page at a time, not something to be rushed. I will learn from this book every time I open it.
The only thing I would change is that I prefer hardback books to paperbacks, and Journeys of Simplicity is available only in paperback.… (altro)
The only thing I would change is that I prefer hardback books to paperbacks, and Journeys of Simplicity is available only in paperback.… (altro)
Premi e riconoscimenti
Statistiche
- Opere
- 3
- Utenti
- 129
- Popolarità
- #156,299
- Voto
- 4.0
- Recensioni
- 10
- ISBN
- 5
- Lingue
- 1