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Writer's pictureDan Potter

Keep it Simple

Updated: May 15, 2021

Margie and I rose early yesterday morning, roused by the radiant glow beaming through our windows. The sun was reflecting off of the turquoise waters of the Caribbean, calling us out, to come a little closer. We’re staying about 6 blocks from the Cozumel town square and had seen a cozy little coffee shop the day before, nestled on a scenic side street, sandwiched between the ubiquitous, colorful souvenir shops. We quickly agreed, it’s a date, lets walk over and get some coffee and talk life. As we strolled up, we were the only customers and the barista greeted us happily. We’ve been brushing up on our Spanish while here and we greeted him with a hearty, buenos dias! We ordered a few expressos and an omelette for Margie and retired outside to enjoy the palm swaying breezes at a small table for two.


As we sat and sipped, I watched the Cozumel world start its day. I observed a middle-aged Mexican man walking up to the coffee shop pulling a 4 wheeled dolly. Upon it was a utopia of fresh fruits, breads, and milk. The daily delivery for the coffee shop. It looked like a fruit commercial, no packaging to conceal the goodness, just bunches of glistening fruits and loaves of bread piled high in a few boxes, open to the eyes and to the nose. I watched him walk the produce in and carefully place it behind the counter, apparently familiar with the routine. He presented a hand written invoice for the goods and the owner signed it without looking. A rhythm of business, a partnership, a friendship. As the man left, he gave us a big smile and a greeting before departing for his next delivery. A simple life completing a simple exchange.


I sat there and thought. How would this exchange exist in the busy world of the U.S? More than likely a large (expensive) air-conditioned delivery truck would pull up hastily as the driver wheeled a pallet of boxed goods into a unmanned delivery bay and then scanned in the quantities to be namelessly and facelessly emailed to a receiving agent at some point in the near future. Quick, efficient, profitable….and completely impersonal.


I see a culture here that is more built around people. They smile, they greet, they take time. It started me thinking about the K.I.S.S. principle I learned in business school so many years ago. Keep It Simple Stupid. Sometimes we can take very simple things and make them amazingly complex. In fact, it seems to be a human gift, a trait of us homosapians. Taking the simple and making it complex. It also made me think about my grade school math days, specifically fractions. The common denominator. No matter what nasty fractions you were dealing with, you had to find that magical common denominator before you could move any farther into the problem and attempt to tame those unruly digits. But what about the common denominator of life? What is the basis for a joy filled life? One that bristles with smiles, laughter, peace and harmony? Where can we find this common denominator amongst a life filled with complex fractions?


As I rose this morning, I eagerly glimpsed out the window to see the new day. We moved places yesterday and our new place has a tiny pool in the back yard surrounded by foxtail palms, dracaena, ginger, and ti leaf plants, it makes me smile. I opened up God’s Word and continued reading in 1 John, “the book of love.” After losing myself in the Words, the KISS principle and the “common denominator” ideas resurfaced, and God spoke. Don’t make the search for simplicity complicated. God makes it easy for us to “keep it simple”, if we will just read His Word, meditate on it constantly, and then put it into practice. God's simplicity is laced throughout His Word, it binds it together. A simple message that God has for us, one we can live and structure our lives by. Simple if you allow it to be. Love God, love others and guard your heart. Here are some verses from 1 John on keeping life simple using His common denominators:


“Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever has love has been born of God and knows God.” 1 John 4:7


“Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.” 1 John 4:11


“By this we know that we are in Him, whoever says he abides in Him ought to walk in the same way in which He walked.” 1 John 2:6


“Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in Him. For all that is in the world, the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and the pride of life, is not from the Father but from the world” 1 John 2:15-16

“No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God’s seed abides in him and he cannot keep on sinning because he has been born of God.” 1 John 3:9


“For this is the message you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another.” 1 John 3:11


“By this we know love, that He laid down His life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers.” 1 John 3:16


“Little children, let us not love in word or talk, but in deed and in truth.” 1 John 3:18


“For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome. For everyone that has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that overcomes the world – our Faith.” 1 John 3-4


“And this is His commandment, that we believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as He commanded us.” 1 John 3:23


And finally, one passage that you can absolutely structure your life around…completely:


“Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.” 1 John 4:7-12


Life can move oh, so fast, if you let it. Technology was designed to make our lives easier, but I feel that it has only done the opposite. Cell phones, laptops, email, Netflix, Facebook and hundreds of channels of TV amongst a myriad of other things, jockey for our time and our attention. As we succumb, the minutes of our day slip away as they are consumed by things that give so little yet take so much. But as I watch the people of this island live their lives, I see that there is a choice. You can choose to live the KISS principle. You can take a stand today and proclaim that you will keep your life simple and that you will first and foremost adhere to the things in life that will not only consume, but reward. Reread the verses above and this time don’t just read them, pray them. Pray to God that these can become your priorities today before the things of the world. You have a choice. You can “live the island life” where ever God may have you today. Slow down, enjoy the scenery, take time for others and especially, make time for God.


Abundant blessings from Cozumel. Love God, Love others, and guard your heart.



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