Episode 5 – The Imitation of Christ: With Simplicity and Purity

If you find your life being overly complicated, Fr. Robert Nixon suggests pursuing two traits. “In purity and simplicity we, in fact, are imitating the theological qualities of God Himself who is absolutely pure and simple. And by cultivating these, we become able to see the will of God in all things. To seek for nothing other than the fulfillment of God’s will and the benefit of our neighbor makes life very simple.”

“With two wings a man is lifted up above earthly things,” Thomas à Kempis writes in The Imitation of Christ. “That is, with simplicity and purity. Simplicity must be in the intention, purity in the affection. Simplicity aims at God, purity takes hold of him and tastes him. If you intend and seek nothing but the will of God and the prophet of thy neighbor, you shall enjoy eternal liberty.”

Fr. Nixon elaborates on this idea in episode five of The Commentaries: The Imitation of Christ. “We can often find our lives and our minds and souls made complicated by the multitude of things we need to deal with,” Fr. Nixon says. “By the complex web of relationships in which we find ourselves. But he is telling us to try to keep ourselves simple and to keep life simple. And I think most people recognize that this is very useful advice.”

Episode five of The Commentaries dives into Book Two of The Imitation of Christ, chapters 1-6.