For many years, the Cape Cod congregation I pastored celebrated the Blessing of the Companion Animals, as part of our focus on ecology and creation spirituality. Typically, we had a handful of dogs and cats of all kinds. In addition to the companion animals present, I was usually asked to bless photos of cats and say a prayer for a large and rambunctious dog who’s too disruptive to attend. Our Blessing of the Companion Animals always involved the remembrance of St. Francis of Assisi whose feast day is held October 4th each year. We were reminded on the Feast of St. Francis that the most unlikely people can become saints and mystics who change the world, and that we can be activist saints too.
“We are all mystics,” asserts German theologian Dorothee Sölle. We have all been touched by God and constantly receive divine inspiration, even when we are unaware of it. Mystics don’t belong to another order of reality; they are simply people who have encountered God in life-changing ways and then experience God’s presence in the ordinary as well as extraordinary moments of life.
Like most of us, mystics and saints seldom set out to become spiritual giants. Very few mystics have dazzling encounters with God as children. In fact, many of them find spirituality of little importance until a personal crisis or an unexpected message from God awakens them to God’s call in their lives. That’s good news for us, who often simply muddle through the day, but in our muddling, hope for something more meaningful, to make a difference and do something beautiful for God.
Francis of Assisi never expected to become “St. Francis.” Born into an upper middle-class family, Giovanni di Pietro de Bernardone (1181-1226) was groomed to follow in his father’s footsteps as a cloth merchant. As a young man, Francis showed no proclivity for spirituality. He loved wine, women, and song. Known as the “Frenchman” because of his lifestyle and attire, he partied hard, dressed stylishly, and spent extravagantly. He was the type of young man, because of his economic prospects, that parents might want their daughter to marry, though they wouldn’t want her to go out on a date without supervision!
Francis had money but in order to make a name for himself he needed to do something spectacular, such as become a knight and defeat his city’s enemies. So, Francis went off to war, but as a knight he was a failure. Assisi was defeated, and Francis was captured, and spent a year in prison. When he returned to Assisi, he wanted to resume his old way of life, but a voice called to him, quietly and persistently, to choose a radically different life – a life of service to God and humankind. To make his ultimate concern what is Ultimate and not the favor of prince or general.
Pondering his future and filled with uneasiness with his upper middle-class life, Francis decided to pray at the dilapidated San Damiano church. Confronted by the crucifix mounted above the altar, Francis fell to his knees, begging God to tell him what to do with his life. He heard a voice coming from the cross, “Francis, repair my church, which is falling down.” Obedient, Francis initially thought his calling was to repair this particular church. Yet, as he refurbished the Chapel of San Damiano, he realized his calling was to be a pilgrim for God, giving up everything including his status and treasure, to rebuild the whole church from the inside out and to repair its broken spirit.
For the remaining two decades of his life, Francis and his companions traveled throughout Italy, confronting popes, priests, bishops, and laypersons with God’s vision of peace, simplicity, and reformation. Francis chose voluntary poverty to be wholly dependent on God. Today, Francis lives on with his message of simplicity, love of creation, and companionship with all.
One of Francis’ first tasks was to learn to love God in the least of these. Repelled by persons with leprosy, Francis discovered, as Mother Teresa did nearly eight centuries later, that he needed to love God in all God’s distressing disguises. Inspired by God’s presence in the poor and misshapen, Francis began a mission to the vulnerable and forgotten.
Francis also learned to see God as present in the non-human world. The heavens declare the glory of God and so does every living creature. God is present in Brother Sun and Sister Moon, but also in flowing streams, flying birds, and howling wolves. With the Psalmist, Francis discovered that everything that breathes praises God. (Psalm 148, 150)
Francis saw materialism and greed as impediments to experiencing God in our lives and the lives of others. Those who live simply, trusting God to supply their deepest needs, have nothing to fear. At home in the world, they can see God in all things and all things in God.
Simone Weil, the French mystic and philosopher, challenged her readers to become saints for our time. We don’t need to imitate Francis by embracing poverty, but we can live simply so that others can simply live. We can let go of privilege so others can have a share of the power we have as our birthright. Saints and mystics for our time need to be both heavenly minded and earthly good. We need to have our eyes trained on eternity and remember that the ever-present God can be found everywhere and in every creature.
Francis challenges us not only to see God calling to us in the non-human world but to embody the spirituality of Earth care, through simple lifestyles, responding to climate change and in promoting economic and ecological sustainability. The world is God-filled and we can find God anywhere and bring forth God’s presence in those in whom it is hidden whether at the soup kitchen with our nation’s forgotten, a walk in the woods, or a town meeting supporting alternative energy and fuel sources. In our care for the Earth, we truly become God’s instruments – dare we say, mystics and saints- of peace and healing in our time.
+++
Bruce Epperly is an active “retired” pastor, professor, seminary administrator and author of over sixty books, including “Walking with Francis of Assisi: From Privilege to Activism,” “The Elephant is Running: Process and Open and Relational Theologies and Religious Pluralism,” “Process Theology and Politics,” and “Mystics in Action: Twelve Saints for Today.” His latest book is “Messy Incarnation: Meditations on Christ in Process.” He can be contacted at drbruceepperly@gmail.com.
No comments:
Post a Comment