Saint Francis' Day

                  Kids know the truth. They have a strong sense of what’s right and wrong and what’s fair. A few years ago there was a series of commercials from Ally Bank. In one, there was a businessman who offers a little girl a pony, and he hands her a toy pony. He offers another girl a pony and brings out a real pony. Is that fair? In another commercial, he gives a little boy a big toy truck to play with. After a few minutes he takes it away and gives the boy a little cardboard cut-out to play with. Is that fair? The ad tries to show how Ally Bank has better practices – even a kid knows what’s right.

                  In movies and books, often the hero or heroine is a child. They know what’s going on. The adults are all clueless, or preoccupied with their own problems. This plays on all our fears that we have to find our own way, and it reflects the real need for children to make their way in life. It also reminds us that many adults get lost because they think they know what’s going on. We think we know all the answers. The danger is that we may cut ourselves off from the real truth.

                  You can’t know the truth if you think you already know the truth. We have to admit our ignorance. We have to admit that the world is bigger than we know. We have to be open to learning something new. Learning requires letting go of what is false. We have to admit where we are wrong. This is not popular in our modern media driven age. For politicians, it is impossible to admit wrong. They will either appear weak, or be labeled a “flip-flopper.” Do we really prefer someone who can never admit error and insists on holding a wrong idea?

                  Our need for certainty says more about our fear than our faith. Today we remember St. Francis who was happy to be thought a fool. He preached to the birds because he thought they listened better than people. He gave away everything. He washed lepers. People said he was crazy. Francis never argued with that opinion.

                  We remember him because he knew a truth that we are afraid to embrace. We don’t need stuff. We don’t need more than we have. The simplest animals can teach us what we’ve forgotten. God loves us. God gives us what we need. We are invited to live this same way with each other.

                  It seems an impossible ideal. We know we need food and shelter. We know we need to make our way in the world. We need to collect around us everything we might need in case of emergency or disaster (just look at the rush to prepare for a tropical storm.) What truth are we embracing? Will we continue in the false truth that wealth or guile or fashion will save us? Will we open ourselves to the truth that Jesus will save us?

                  I do not deny that life is often difficult. We must face sickness and hard work. Children grow up in a dangerous world. Guns and drugs are plentiful. We let ourselves get distracted by busy schedules that we can’t seem to trim. Jesus doesn’t promise an end to our troubles. Jesus promises us a different way to live – while bearing our troubles.

                  Jesus offers new life. This is not a vacation from life – but a vocation to a new way to live. We do not escape; we enter more deeply. Jesus calls us to bear a new burden (oh great! More work!) Jesus invites us to re-order our lives.

                  We do not change overnight. Even Francis had to try new things and then try different things. Francis heard God say, “Rebuild my church.” He got all tired and sweaty rebuilding a little neglected chapel stone by stone. Then he realized that God didn’t want him to be a stone mason – God wanted Francis to rebuild the whole church and enliven the people of God. This was a much more difficult calling – and a much better one.

                  God calls us to live into new life and to walk with one another as we discover what that can be. It is easier, in a way, to continue mindlessly doing what we already know how to do (even if it seems to be failing.) Everyone knows that that is foolish. We have to unlearn what we know and discover what we do not know.

                  Francis suggests we observe the world around us. The world of nature and the ways of animals suggest the ways of God. Jesus suggests we listen to children. They know what’s right and wrong. So can we. We are God’s children too.