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A Life of Complications

A few months ago, I made the decision to purchase an Apple Watch to better track my run mileage, pace, and heart rate.  As I began to learn more about the Apple Watch, I discovered a fascinating feature called Complications.  In the world of Apple Watch, a complication is a feature that allows the watch to provide more information to the user by simply glancing at the face of the watch.  Complications delivers information to the user in a way that requires nothing more than lifting your wrist.  Interestingly enough, it seems that the word ‘simplification’ would have been a better descriptor of what the feature is intended to do for the user – to simplify the use of the watch to the extent that it matches the specific needs of a particular user.
patagonia_live simplyShortly after getting my Apple Watch, I headed down to Costa Rica for the majority of the month of July to learn Spanish and to travel the country to see the beauty of God’s creation in that part of the world.  As I headed out, I found a Patagonia t-shirt that proclaimed  “Live Simply”.  Living simply is an idea that has resonated with me for a long time, although I do a fairly miserable job of living into that notion.  To a certain extent, the philosophy of living simply is a complication in life.  It is something that requires thoughtfulness, intentionality, and a change in lifestyle to turn away from the cultural pressure to live extravagantly.  So, though I fail at living simply in many ways, I donned the t-shirt to head down to Costa Rica for a 3-week adventure in language, culture, and environment.
 
The culture and environment of Costa Rica can be summed up in two short words – Pura Vida.  In Costa Rica, pura vida is the national slogan, the way of living in the every day, and an approach to life in general.  The legend is that the slogan originated in a film called Pura Vida, and the Costa Ricans (also known as Ticos) adopted the saying because one of the characters in the film was a Costa Rican that said pura vida throughout the film.  Regardless of where the saying comes from, Costa Ricans have taken it as their own and use it regularly – as a way of saying hello and goodbye, as a way of expressing satisfaction, and perhaps most importantly as an embodiment of living life to the fullest.  Costa Rica offered me one more complication.  Live the pura vida and enjoy the beauty in God’s creation found in God’s people and in the natural beauty of the earth.  Now, I have two different complications to figure out – live simply and pura vida.
pura vida costa rica
The past few weeks have been difficult weeks in the United States and around the world.  Time and again, we have witnessed the horrific outcomes of violence unfold before our eyes.  The shooting of police officers in Dallas and Baton Rouge, the vehicular slaughter of innocent lives in Nice, France, the attacks in Munich, Germany, and of course, the violence of words in the current political cycle bring fear into our lives, and it is easy to fall into the trap of living into that fear. It is tempting to withdraw from the difficulties of living in a pluralistic society and to yearn for days of yesteryear when life is remembered as being easier and without as much to fear.
On the flip side, it is more challenging to live life fully, to live the pura vida that is offered in the culture of Costa Rica, to follow the advice of my t-shirt to live simply.  It is, in my mind, a reminder to live into the commandments that Christ gives to us – to love God and to love neighbor.  The summary of the law is, then, another complication, but it is the complication that captures the other two.  To love God and to love neighbor is to live pura vida, to live simply, to be present to the life that is around us.
The command that Christ gives to us captures the essence of what it means for us to turn our backs on fear.  In turning towards love, we are turning towards relationship with others and eliminating the space between the self and another in which fear can live.  We are taking the time to fill that space with the love that Christ shares with us, and we are inviting the self and another to grow in relationship.  Christ gives to us the ultimate simplification, which ends up being the greatest of complications.
How can we begin to live more simply?  How will that enable us to be more present with others?
What does “Pura Vida” look like to you?
How is Christ’s command to love your neighbor the greatest complication in life?  How do you try to live out that complication in your daily life?

Hunter Ruffin  The Rev. Hunter Ruffin (M.Div ’15) is the Associate for Mission and Outreach at Saint Michael and All Angels Episcopal Church in Dallas, Texas.  He lives with Shelby, a Springer Spaniel that knows a thing or two about living the “Pura Vida.”

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