This anatomically-correct rendition of Saint Francis of Assisi is from the movie Brother Sun, Sister Moon. He has just discarded all his worldly belongings and is headed out of town to begin a new life. This snapshot works on several levels, but you have no doubt that Francis is leaving everything behind. There's no place to hide so much as a roll of paper towels. Drop everything. Sell it. Give it away. It's a simple concept until our overactive minds add clauses and exceptions. Where are the exceptions in the picture of Francis? Merton writes that one of the Coptic hermits of the 4th Century was caught burning scripture. It was the last thing he owned. This desert father got rid of the paper that told him to get rid of everything. This is the very definition of simplicity (or fanaticism). No clauses. No provisos. No exceptions. No IFs No ANDs. Plenty of... well, you know......
Song to Brother Sun and Sister Moon by St Francis of Assisi Lord, I don't know to give You praise and glory. How can I honor the Creator of sun and moon? All praise is Yours, all glory, all honor and all blessings. No mortal lips are worthy to pronounce Your Name. You gave us Brother Sun to radiate light and warmth. Our brother grows our food, and with such splendor. Let Brother sun honor you because that would be so much grander than anything I could do. May you be praised by Sister Moon and all her stars, precious and fair. All praises to you throgh Brother Wind; Fair and stormy, all their moods. May your glory come through Sister Water, Humble, precious, pure, and useful. May you feel the blessings of Brother Fire, Through whom the night is lit. He is beautiful and playful. He is robust and strong. May you you see glory through our Mother Earth, Who sustains and governs us. Praise to you for the varied fruits we eat. Honor to you for the playful flowers and herbs. Praise be You my Lord through those who grant pardon for love of You and bear sickness and trial. Blessed are those who endure in peace, By You Most High, they will be crowned. Praised be You, my Lord through Sister Death, from whom no-one living can escape. Blessed are they She finds doing Your Will. No second death can do them harm. Praise and bless my Lord and give Him thanks, And serve Him with great humility.   The Peace Prayer The so-called "Prayer of Saint Francis" actually appeared during World War I (c. 41915 c.e.). Someone wrote this prayer on the back of a card honoring Saint Francis of Assisi. When I first heard this, I felt raped and robbed; duped and cheated: it wasn't even written in Latin or Italian!   Make me an instrument of your peace. Where there is hatred, let me sow love; when there is injury, pardon; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; and where there is sadness, joy. Grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console; to be understood, as to understand, to be loved as to love. For it is in giving that we receive, it is in pardoning that we are pardoned, and it is in dying [to ourselves] that we are born to eternal life. To a Christian, this is a littany of beatitudes. To a humanist, it could be a list of axioms. To the well-heeled alchemist, it is nothing less than a formula. It isn't something you say to an unseen deity, hoping for a better life. These are "marching orders" -- a cosmic quid pro quo. If you do X, the universe will do Y. If you need something, give. If you need to be healed, go heal others. It isn't a prayer that is put into a black-box that may or may not be heard. These formulae are as practical and direct and gravity: jump up and you will come back down. You don't have to "believe" in gravity for it to work. Gravity doesn't really care about your Reality map. On the other side of that coin, you can believe so much that you actually light candles to gravity every hour: but gravity won't be impressed. There are plenty of places where honest reverence and humble adoration work, but this isn't one of them. If you want to be pardoned, go pardon... it is as direct and unemotional as gravity....       be loved -- love       jump up -- fall down The final step of the 12-Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous includes this bit of cosmic wisdom. The way to stay sober is to help others get sober. If an AA member gets in a bad place, the first thing she thinks of is going to talk to another drunk. And when people ask how that works, she says "Just fine. It works just fine." This is such an important lesson for me to remember, I transcribe it as the first page of every spiritual diary (or "book of shadows") that I have ever used. The solution doesn't seem to have anything to do with what I think I need. When an AA member is considering a drink, does it seem logical for her to go work with somebody else? No, she has her own problems -- maybe she lost a job or loved one. Dealing with what she thinks she needs will only get her drunk. But when she follows the 12th Step, her problem goes away. There are two outcomes with a problem arises: first you can find a solution, second the problem just goes away. What I've found with the approach in the Peace Prayer and in the 12th Step is that the problem just goes away. I may not get closure, but I've learned to get over that sense of loss. I have learned not to worry when problems just go away mysteriously. The problem goes away. The formula is effective but not logical. In fact I sometimes call it the "Lazy Mystic's Guide To The Universe." My involvement is to keep myself pointed in the right direction and to keep my over-active hands out of the machinery. I don't treat these words as namby-pamby blessings. They are formulae. And if you ask me what they have to do with anything, I'll shrug my shoulders. It is almost as if rituals and prayers and meditation are devices to keep my imagination entertained while the real business is going on somewhere else. If you ask me how they work, I'll tell you the truth: Just fine. They work just fine.   ©1999. Wynn Wagner. All rights reserved.