“All the darkness in the world cannot extinguish the light of a single candle.”

~ St Francis of Assisi ~

i am smiling that today is the feast day of the soul of simplicity; so, today’s pilgrimage is one extended moment of celebrating St Francis (and we are co-opting this feast day for another who shares his birth date) and his call to simply be an instrument of peace…

to amplify this celebration of St Francis on his feast day, i turn to a namesake, Pope Francis, who turns to him in the introduction to his encyclical Laudato Si’: On Care for Our Common Home:

“. . . I believe that Saint Francis is the example par excellence of care for the vulnerable and of an integral ecology lived out joyfully and authentically. . . . He was a mystic and a pilgrim who lived in simplicity and in wonderful harmony with God, with others, with nature and with himself. He shows us just how inseparable the bond is between concern for nature, justice for the poor, commitment to society, and interior peace.

 . . . Just as happens when we fall in love with someone, whenever he would gaze at the sun, the moon or the smallest of animals, he burst into song, drawing all other creatures into his praise. He communed with all creation, even preaching to the flowers, inviting them “to praise the Lord, just as if they were endowed with reason.”  His response to the world around him was so much more than intellectual appreciation or economic calculus, for to him each and every creature was a sister united to him by bonds of affection. That is why he felt called to care for all that exists. His disciple Saint Bonaventure tells us that, “from a reflection on the primary source of all things, filled with even more abundant piety, he would call creatures, no matter how small, by the name of ‘brother’ or ‘sister.’”  . . . If we feel intimately united with all that exists, then sobriety and care will well up spontaneously. The poverty and austerity of Saint Francis were no mere veneer of asceticism, but something much more radical: a refusal to turn reality into an object simply to be used and controlled.”

may we live in an openhearted way on the soul journey odyssey of simplicity, harmony and compassion with and for all our relatives…

~

“All the darkness in the world cannot extinguish the light of a single candle.”

~ St Francis of Assisi ~

i am smiling that today is the feast day of the soul of simplicity; so, today’s pilgrimage is one extended moment of celebrating St Francis (and we are co-opting this feast day for another who shares his birth date) and his call to simply be an instrument of peace…

to amplify this celebration of St Francis on his feast day, i turn to his namesake, Pope Francis, who turns to him in the introduction to his encyclical Laudato Si’: On Care for Our Common Home:

“. . . I believe that Saint Francis is the example par excellence of care for the vulnerable and of an integral ecology lived out joyfully and authentically. . . . He was a mystic and a pilgrim who lived in simplicity and in wonderful harmony with God, with others, with nature and with himself. He shows us just how inseparable the bond is between concern for nature, justice for the poor, commitment to society, and interior peace.

 . . . Just as happens when we fall in love with someone, whenever he would gaze at the sun, the moon or the smallest of animals, he burst into song, drawing all other creatures into his praise. He communed with all creation, even preaching to the flowers, inviting them “to praise the Lord, just as if they were endowed with reason.”  His response to the world around him was so much more than intellectual appreciation or economic calculus, for to him each and every creature was a sister united to him by bonds of affection. That is why he felt called to care for all that exists. His disciple Saint Bonaventure tells us that, “from a reflection on the primary source of all things, filled with even more abundant piety, he would call creatures, no matter how small, by the name of ‘brother’ or ‘sister.’”  . . . If we feel intimately united with all that exists, then sobriety and care will well up spontaneously. The poverty and austerity of Saint Francis were no mere veneer of asceticism, but something much more radical: a refusal to turn reality into an object simply to be used and controlled.”

may we live in an openhearted way of simplicity harmony and compassion for all our relatives…

“All the darkness in the world cannot extinguish the light of a single candle.”

~ St Francis of Assisi ~

i am smiling that today is the feast day of the soul of simplicity; so, today’s pilgrimage is one extended moment of celebrating St Francis (and we are co-opting this feast day for another who shares his birth date) and his call to simply be an instrument of peace…

to amplify this celebration of St Francis on his feast day, i turn to his namesake, Pope Francis, who turns to him in the introduction to his encyclical Laudato Si’: On Care for Our Common Home:

“. . . I believe that Saint Francis is the example par excellence of care for the vulnerable and of an integral ecology lived out joyfully and authentically. . . . He was a mystic and a pilgrim who lived in simplicity and in wonderful harmony with God, with others, with nature and with himself. He shows us just how inseparable the bond is between concern for nature, justice for the poor, commitment to society, and interior peace.

 . . . Just as happens when we fall in love with someone, whenever he would gaze at the sun, the moon or the smallest of animals, he burst into song, drawing all other creatures into his praise. He communed with all creation, even preaching to the flowers, inviting them “to praise the Lord, just as if they were endowed with reason.”  His response to the world around him was so much more than intellectual appreciation or economic calculus, for to him each and every creature was a sister united to him by bonds of affection. That is why he felt called to care for all that exists. His disciple Saint Bonaventure tells us that, “from a reflection on the primary source of all things, filled with even more abundant piety, he would call creatures, no matter how small, by the name of ‘brother’ or ‘sister.’”  . . . If we feel intimately united with all that exists, then sobriety and care will well up spontaneously. The poverty and austerity of Saint Francis were no mere veneer of asceticism, but something much more radical: a refusal to turn reality into an object simply to be used and controlled.”

may we live in an openhearted way of simplicity harmony and compassion for all our relatives…

i awaken today feeling empty, unknowing, with nothing to hold onto no matter how much effort i expend… as i lie in this open field, i re-member being in this picture two years ago and two days ago, this open field of peace and the rhythm of deep earth being pulls me here to float… yes, there is much for me to do in the outer world today but for this moment i float in the open field of peace…

many moments later, i begin to prepare ritual space by gathering so many works in progress into a treasure chest to open sacred space for the new… and with this clean-sing, this emptying, a message of old becomes more emphatic – live simply to simply live…

now, i am smiling at the recognition that today is the feast day of the soul of simplicity…

to amplify this celebration of St Francis on his feast day, i turn to his namesake, Pope Francis, who turns to him in the introduction to his encyclical Laudato Si’: On Care for Our Common Home:

. . . I believe that Saint Francis is the example par excellence of care for the vulnerable and of an integral ecology lived out joyfully and authentically. . . . He was a mystic and a pilgrim who lived in simplicity and in wonderful harmony with God, with others, with nature and with himself. He shows us just how inseparable the bond is between concern for nature, justice for the poor, commitment to society, and interior peace.

 . . . Just as happens when we fall in love with someone, whenever he would gaze at the sun, the moon or the smallest of animals, he burst into song, drawing all other creatures into his praise. He communed with all creation, even preaching to the flowers, inviting them “to praise the Lord, just as if they were endowed with reason.”  His response to the world around him was so much more than intellectual appreciation or economic calculus, for to him each and every creature was a sister united to him by bonds of affection. That is why he felt called to care for all that exists. His disciple Saint Bonaventure tells us that, “from a reflection on the primary source of all things, filled with even more abundant piety, he would call creatures, no matter how small, by the name of ‘brother’ or ‘sister.’”  . . . If we feel intimately united with all that exists, then sobriety and care will well up spontaneously. The poverty and austerity of Saint Francis were no mere veneer of asceticism, but something much more radical: a refusal to turn reality into an object simply to be used and controlled.

may we live in an open field of simplicity harmony and compassion for all our relatives…