"Simple" : As in the "Simple Life":

Almost every home in America must have at least one picture of an Amish carriage with driver and son winding up a simple path midst some trees, surrounded by lush farmland. For the winter season there are the plain four square homes in black cast against the snow...It would seem that Americans want to find a simpler, cheaper life and in doing so find some peace of mind.

However....if one reviews...the actual cultural context....the Amish believe and will tell you so that they are superior to corrupted folks because they are simple...they avoid electricity and other forms of corruption...and yes they just borrow the rides to town from one of their friends. So peace is not part of it.

Years ago, in a seminar by Phil Laut, who wrote the book "Money is My Friend" he had all the audience close their eyes and picture their favorite scene from youth. That was pretty simple for me. It was a picture of my C-boat, the C-Wolf that my dad had purchased in my sophomore year of high school that we refinished together and sailed on White Bear Lake. I used to sign my postcards to my girls with a picture of the C-Wolf, in stick form, as a trademark of sorts. It was a reminder of what my Dad always called "Peace at the Lake."

These pictures of the lake are in vogue now...by relatives and friends on facebook...but mostly they are sent during the winter months from Florida to the relatives back in the frozen tundra to remind them that the chosen ones are on vacation. Even in the 1920's the rich of the Gilded Age, sent pictures from their journey on the Flagler Railroad back to the relatives in St. Paul via the St. Paul Pioneer Press Society page.

That brings us to the other meanings of the word "simple". Yes the first definition is "without ostentation." But the other definition is "dumb". "Without education". Without sophistication.

My conclusion....most who are reflecting these days are mostly using scenes of high life boating to celebrate rightousness, and those who are reflecting on Amish carriages are doing likewise.. Meditating on "dumb" leads to nowhere. or as my relative once asked me: "What is the point of the simple life?"