I found this passage from St. Paul interesting and compelling when it appeared in the Sunday readings a couple weeks ago.
It fits my purpose here well, in terms of my belief that the purpose of existence is the expansion of love.
And it also fits well with my Franciscan vocation if you assume that quiet is synonymous with simple.
“Now about your love for one another we do not need to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love each other. And in fact, you do love all of God’s family throughout Macedonia. Yet we urge you, brothers and sisters, to do so more and more, and to make it your ambition to lead a quiet life: You should mind your own business and work with your hands, just as we told you, so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody.”