
DATE: Wednesday, July 9, 1997               TAG: 9707080084

SECTION: DAILY BREAK             PAGE: E4   EDITION: FINAL 

TYPE: Book Review

SOURCE: BY CHARLENE CASON 

                                            LENGTH:   63 lines

RELIGIOUS SCHOLAR DETAILS WAYS TO SIMPLIFY LIFE

SPEND MORE time in the kitchen or family room. Keep holy the Sabbath Day. Laugh. Create a sanctuary. Sell your boat. Get out of debt.

These are just a few of the simple, concrete, easy-to-swallow suggestions for a peaceful life that are proposed by David Yount in ``Spiritual Simplicity: Simplify Your Life and Enrich Your Soul.'' The title of this thin volume by writer, lecturer and religious analyst Yount could just as easily have been ``Change Your Habits, Change Your Soul.''

With dozens of self-help and pop-psychology books on the shelves today, some so undecipherable one wonders how their authors dare promote them as the path to simplicity, it's refreshing to find Yount's rudimental guide. His premise is stated right up front: `` . . . you can simplify your life, reducing the demands on your time, your emotions, and your finances. What you do with more time and less stress is for you to decide . . . . ''

The chapters that ensue couldn't be any more lucid and fundamental in their precepts. Yount begins with ``The Gift of Simplicity,'' subtitled, ``Cut the clutter and save your soul,'' and takes us through the 1-2-3 steps to accomplishment. We move from getting started to prioritizing work, through seeking solitude and refreshing the spirit, to sharing simplicity with others and finally, ``retreating'' as a way to nourish the soul.

Along the way Yount, a doctor of divinity who's ``been there/done that'' when it comes to the obstacles we all like to whine about - jobs, divorce, kids, poor health and life's pace - recounts his own experiences, and those of others, in such modest terms, anyone can relate.

He throws out such unassuming theories as: We can attain the same sense of spiritual completion new lovers feel through art, nature, knowledge and creative work; ``worry is the greatest enemy of a satisfied life, followed by lack of preparation for inevitable setbacks''; and ``silence breeds simplicity and nourishes spirituality.''

In other words, life is simpler if we just shut up once in a while, and remove ourselves from the chatter of other people, whether real or on TV.

The thing is, we all know we could use a little simplicity in our modern lives, if for no other reason than we'd probably be healthier, but we tend to separate our souls from our bodies. We don't quite see how things like ``stopping the junk mail'' and ``using consignment shops'' can benefit us spiritually.

In the end, though, ``Spiritual Simplicity'' puts it all into unadorned perspective so that we're left thinking, ``Ahhh, so that's how to do it. I can do this, too.'' MEMO: Charlene Cason, a former staff writer, is completing her master's

in fine arts for creative writing at Old Dominion University. She lives

in Chesapeake. ILLUSTRATION: Photo

ASSOCIATED PRESS

David Yount says simplifying life can bring peace of mind.

Graphic

BOOK REVIEW

``Spiritual Simplicity: Simplify Your Life and Enrich Your Soul''

Author: David Yount

Publisher: Simon & Schuster. 208 pp.

Price: $22