The Franciscan

A few days ago I heard my name being called by a book I had already read.  It was a good read the first time, and the second time, and I have no real idea why I have found myself once again immersed in this book enttiled "Chasing Francis"  by Ian Morgan Cron.  The book is the telling of the story of Francis  through the pilgrimmage of a New England evangelical pastor whose mega church ministry is shattered by his own personal loss of faith.  As books go, it is average, nothing really exceptional, but none of this silenced the voice that was calling me to read.     

Maybe it is the spiritual magnetism of St. Francis of Assisi who lived in the 1181-1226 period.  He is remembered for many things:  establishing the Franciscans, personally trying to end the Crusades, his commitment to poverty as a way of life, his radical adherence to the life of Christ, and his love for all things of the creation.  His spiritual journey began with a voice coming to him from the crucifix of a falling down abandoned church telling him to rebuild the church.  Francis thought the voice was telling him to rebuild that particular church which he did, though he would later be credited with helping to restore the larger church which he served.    

While I was preaching all those years from various pulpits, this ancient saint was mostly just a historical characterr from the past who required no attention, but since retiring to a different life here on the farm, my collection of books about him has grown and my desire to feed on his spiritual legacy has multiplied.  I find the change interesting.  Living as one who served the church kept me too busy to appreciate a saint like Francis of Assisi, but the slower pace of retired life has caused me to thirst not for information about this saint, but to thirst for the spirit and abandonment to Christ which drove him forward into the ministry prepared for him.