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| (Our back yard) |
The biblical idea of contentment is circumstance-independent. As are peace, joy, love and so on.
The "fruit of the Spirit" is circumstance-independent. Were this not so, things like inner peace would be conditional, and that's bad news for all of us. That is, "IF I have _________, THEN I will have inner peace."
This "If... then" mentality results in our being captive to our circumstances.
Philip Yancey shares this story In his
excellent book on prayer.
"I remembered reading the account of a spiritual seeker who interrupted a busy life to spend a few days in a monastery. “I hope your stay is a blessed one,” said the monk who showed the visitor to his cell. “If you need anything, let us know and we’ll teach you how to live without it.”" (Yancey, Prayer, Kindle Locations 1012-1015)
"I remembered reading the account of a spiritual seeker who interrupted a busy life to spend a few days in a monastery. “I hope your stay is a blessed one,” said the monk who showed the visitor to his cell. “If you need anything, let us know and we’ll teach you how to live without it.”" (Yancey, Prayer, Kindle Locations 1012-1015)