In a culture of indulgence some restraint is necessary; it’s good for the soul. In this issue, we explore simplicity amidst rampant consumerism.

• Glimpses of a new asceticism
  Aiden Enns 6
• Life
  Kathe Koja 19
• Temptation
  Helen Thompson 20
• Financial Glory
  Geez Staff 21
• The color of disparity
  Stephanie Tombari 22
• Lost but followed
  Colin Matthewson 24
• Singing away the hunger
  Mpho 'M'atsepo Nthunya 28
• The goodness of poverty
  Geez Staff 28
• Caution
  Based on Don Starkell's Paddle to the Arctic 36
• The five-thousand dollar man
  Interview with Jim Merkel 38
• Sustainable hedonism
  Jill Shealy 40
• Less: The new future is circular
  Will Braun 42
• Family material values
  Shari MacDonald Strong 48
• Body and spirit
  Miriam Meinder 50
• The pastor's wife tries really hard to go without for Lent
  Carrie S. Martin 55
• Under the wardrobe
  Kent Annan 56
• Eye-opening
  Trician Gates Brown 59
• Half-assed ascetic
  Nicholas Klassen 62
• Bif Naked
  Sammy Younan 64
• Detox
  Donna-Jean Brown 65
• A walk backward
  William Claassen 68
• Studio squatter
  Scott Stephens and Erin O'Hara 74
• Holy, discipline and otherwise/ Countless Victories
  Ruth Rempel 76
• Upholstering the novel
  Michelle Elrick 78
• Dress-the-ascetic doll
  Karin Kliewer 80
• Accessible asceticism
  Aiden Enns 84
• Cold
  Adam Ward 85
• In praise of Radical Leisure
  Deborah Campbell 86
• Grating cheese
  Heather Plett 87