This past Sunday, we watched a film about St. Francis and moved through 3 periods of listening. If you’d like to move through them again at your own pace, here you go:
Seeing Slowly
Francis changed when an injury forced him to slow down. As he saw more slowly, he began to see the world differently. What used to be ordinary—birds, water, sun, trees—became luminous, and creatures became kin:
“Praised be You, my Lord, through Brother Sun… Sister Moon…Brother Wind….Sister Water”
I wonder what we have stopped seeing? What would change if we slowed down our seeing… Imagine something in creation you love – a bird, a forest, a river – and be with it for
a moment. Notice how it gives you life, just by being itself. Can you feel gratitude for its existence? If all creation became beloved family members, how would we live differently?
Letting Go
Francis discovered that to love the world this way, as kin, he had to loosen his grip on how he moved through it. He let go of wealth, status, certainty. He didn’t do this because he thought they were evil. They just kept him from experiencing a deeper kind of belonging. From this place of openness, new prayers formed inside of him:
“Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is error, the truth;
where there is doubt, the faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
and where there is sadness, joy.”
It’s not always clear what is keeping us from connection and belonging. Sometimes it’s an inner dynamic – the need to control, the desire to be right, the attachment to possessing. Sometimes it’s a thing – an object, a relationship, a grudge. Open your hands…is there something inside you longing to be released? Is there something resisting letting go? What space might open up beyond the release? For today, just notice…
“O Divine Master, 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 that we are born to eternal life.” – Amen.
Becoming Living Water
Francis saw creation slowly. Then, he joined the flow of God’s love within it. He became like water. He moved towards what was dry and wounded, bringing refreshment.
“Praised be You, my Lord, through Sister Water, which is very useful and humble and precious and chaste.”
Like St. Francis, we belong to this flow. Where is this flow taking you? What would it look like, to surrender yourself more fully to its lifegiving force? As we end the season of Creation, may these questions continue to echo in your heart.
Blessings, Anne