A newborn in Palestine

Living simply is becoming more and more difficult. There are just too many things to buy, too much information available, so many distractions to sidetrack a person, too many causes and struggles present in life and so much talk and opinions to consider. It is easy to get drowned with things and information. In a world of too much how does one live simply?

My thoughts go the birth of Jesus in a cave used to feed animals. Jesus was born to a Palestinian Jewish couple living in a land occupied by Roman Empire. Jesus grew up in Nazareth, the son of Joseph the carpenter and remained there until he was thirty years old living a simple life with his mother and family. When he did go out on a mission he felt called to he was rejected by his own village people at the synagogue he grew up attending. He wandered around Palestine with his message of the Way to God but after nearly three years of rejection he was captured by his own people and put on trial before the Roman ruler. He was found guilty of treason, falsely accused of saying he was King of the Jews and killed. Only after his death and resurrection did his message get noticed and spread.

Living in a digital world has benefits like bringing people closer together but can be easily be a distraction from living life fully and simply. Recently I discovered a new app, Periscope that allows me to broadcast and receive videos in real time all over the world. Skipping around the world watching videos I noticed that most people are just videotaping self or friends do ordinary things but there are exceptions and there are those who do regularly broadcast. Videos stay on periscope for about 12–24 hours so you are constantly getting a view of what people are doing all over the world from dancing in a tavern in Russia to meditating a beach at sunset in California. Too much but fun.

Jesus being born in the troubled village of Bethlehem reminds us that amidst the ordinary things of life, there are extraordinary things happening if we can just see deeply into them. Jesus is born again today in the ordinary events of life we can now see happening all over the world. We can periscope into simplicity.

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