Rethinking Lifestyle

“I remember us being poorer than our neighbours,” said Jack and Ruth. “We learned our living skills from our parents.” I was trying to find out when Jack and Ruth developed their current simple lifestyle, but the impression they gave me is that the simple lifestyle is what they grew up with; it was what was normal. They never questioned it or wished for something different.

I challenged them by saying, “Many people that grow up poor vow that when they grow up they will make sure they are never poor”

“We were always frugal; we learned it from our parents. Money has never been a driving force for us; our passion was to be faithful to our understanding of our faith.”

Ruth explained that their cross cultural experience in Bolivia cemented their understanding of living the simple lifestyle they had already adopted. Many people there did not have a choice about being poor but Jack and Ruth did and they choose the simple lifestyle out of respect and in solidarity with the poor people they met.

An underlying theme that came out of Jack and Ruth’s story was one of questioning authority; questioning authority because they saw so much injustice perpetrated by people, institutions and governments who had authority. Because of their cumulative experiences in observing injustice, they needed to get answers to how to overcome that injustice so Jack enrolled in a seminary in search of answers. There he found a community of like-minded people. With the help of this community Jack and Ruth were able to formulate some ideas of how to live out their faith in community.

Throughout the interview I had with Ruth and Jack I kept on trying to bring them back to discuss their simple lifestyle, how they were living today, how many jars of sauerkraut and raspberry jam they had made and they kept on going back to the idea of living out their faith in their daily life. Finally I said, “I am getting the impression that the simple lifestyle is not your goal. How would you describe you goal?”

“Our focus has never been on the lifestyle as an end in itself but on the freedom that the simple lifestyle can bring,” Jack explained. “The simple lifestyle means independence to do what we love to do and that is to think, write, grow our own food, advocate for justice and nurture relationships among family, friends and neighbors. As engaged seniors we are free to challenge the status quo and recommend a more progressive future.”

I did finally get Jack and Ruth to describe their life in their 1000 square foot home partially heated by a wood stove using wood from their own property. They explained that they were completely self-sufficient in vegetables; canning, freezing, drying, fermenting and keeping some in cold storage.

Jack and Ruth’s lifestyle is the way it is because they think about the consequences of their actions. For them there is no separation between their spiritual life and their physical existence. They like to discover a good idea and implement it.