In June, 1971 we attended Annual Conference at St. Petersburg, Florida. It was a good Conference even though there were some concerns about directions the Church was taking.We stayed in a small motel and had two of our children with us. It was at St. Petersburg that Brethren Revival Fellowship was given (for the first time) the privilege of having a display booth at the Conference.
One person who had read BRF materials during the five prior years (we began publishing in 1966) was so impressed with the standards and the biblical principles which we had promoted that he wanted to give our family (the four of us) a real treat at a restaurant. We had no hint about where we would be eating. On Friday evening of Conference week, he took us to the restaurant on the tenth floor of the Hilton Hotel.
The view of the city from that location was fascinating. The dining room was lavish. The servers were elegant. The menu listed only expensive entrees. We didn’t know what many of the listed food items really were. The servings were so large that much food had to be turned back (and undoubtedly wasted). The salad itself was so big that if all of it were eaten, there would not have been much room for the main course. We were uncomfortable. It was a new experience for the four of us who were accustomed to eating mostly soups and casseroles.
During the conversation around the table, we felt it was necessary to explain that our belief in simple living included moderation in the amounts of food we eat, and confining the costs of meals to the much less expensive. We told our wellmeaning friend that we could have fed our entire family (six children) for a week on the amount spent for this one meal. We kindly sought to make it clear to our host that we try to live simply so that in some small way we can help others to simply live, and that if we had known about the place to which he was taking us, we would have suggested an alternative.
Our kind friend accepted the admonition graciously. He was a retired employee of the federal government in our nation’s capital, and was accustomed to the lifestyle of the rich and famous. He thanked us for the lesson on simple living and was a close friend until the day of his death.
September/October 1996