Making My Bed

Every year I moved into a new dorm at P.C., the first thing my mom would ask was, “Can I please make your bed?” At times, this idea really bothered me, I thought, “There are more important things to do. There’s still more to move out of the car. There are groceries to buy. I can always make my bed later,” but I knew that at the root of her question was a desire to know that I had a place to sleep that night: a place to rest my head and take refuge. I always let her do it, from freshman year through senior year, but I never imagined I, too, would see making my bed in a new home as a priority. Now that I have been settling into my new home in Dar es Salaam so very far away from my 6 person apartment with two bathrooms, running water, heat/AC, a full kitchen, ‘free’ wireless and cable, I found deep comfort in the act of making my bed and securing my mosquito net to the posts which surround it. In fact, it was one of the first things I did upon arriving, just before posting pictures and cards from friends and family. I’m still new to simple living, but it is really remarkable how much less stuff I brought with me to a new country for two years as compared to the carloads of junk I brought with me to P.C. each semester.

When I was awakened this morning by the call to prayer, a rooster, a neighbor’s baby crying and the sun shining through my window around 5:30, I picked up a book I had started this summer. The book I picked up was The Jesuit Guide to (Almost) Everything* and the next chapter was titled “The Simple Life,” in which Fr. Jim Martin discusses simple living as a part of Jesuit spirituality. He gives examples from different theologians, scholars and cultures which illustrate the idea that possessions are not inherently bad, but their use as a distraction or an obsession keeps us from focusing on more important things. This morning, for example, I woke up at the crack of dawn rested and ready for the day- I did yoga, read part of a great book,  the readings for yesterday’s Mass (which I heard in Swahili and therefore did not understand), todays’ readings and a daily meditation. I can’t think of a day I’ve been that ‘spiritually productive’ before 7:00 a.m.

I do realize that it’s easy for me to romanticize simple living now, because it’s still a bit of a novel idea, but I am glad that this is a core value of  J.V.C.

*I recommend this book to anyone looking to learn a little more about the Jesuits, or really to anyone who is hoping to develop her spirituality with a comical and practical companion!