A Living Alternative

One of things that most distinguishes St. Francis as an important example for us all is that it is his life, and not (for the most part) anything he said or wrote, flies in the face of our culture of religious respectability. He demonstrated the fullness of life that comes through Christ in such a way that has transformed lives and nations over the centuries. He continues to resist boundaries, embraced by so many traditions and denominations, yet left behind little to no written teaching.

As someone who is is a regular blogger, as well as working to write a book, this is an important and humbling reminder. Francis most reflected the character and nature of Christ in this way, that he incarnationally lived truth with an abandon that could only be born out of selfless and devoted love. We must never forget that our words, while important, have only the level authority to which our lives, through the power of the Spirit, lend them credibility.

In his excellent book "Reluctant Saint: The Life of Francis of Assisi" author Donald Spoto said this of the little poor man:

"...He saw his journey to God as a process, a constant deepening and adjustment of his aspirations, a refinement of his presumptions about what God wanted and a winnowing of his own good intentions. In that regard, his conversion was not the event of a day but the work of a lifetime."

May that work of salvation in our own lives work to such an end.