In an episode of the podcast Learning How to See, Brian McLaren considers Francis of Assisi’s celebrated affinity for nature:
Saint Francis is probably best known for the “Canticle of the Sun,” the song of praise he wrote in 1225. It begins,
Most High, all-powerful, good Lord … praised be You, my Lord, with all Your creatures, especially Sir Brother Sun, who is the day and through whom You give us light. And he is beautiful and radiant with great splendor; and bears a likeness of You, Most High One. Praised be You, my Lord, through Sister Moon and the stars…. Praised be You, my Lord, through Brother Wind, and through the air, cloudy and serene, and every kind of weather…. Praised be You, my Lord, through Sister Water…. [1]
What strikes me in this poem is that Francis doesn’t say be praised for these things but be praised with them and through them. Francis is saying, I’m praising you, God, because I’m praising the sun. It seems to me that Francis was trying to return to a more primal identity—as part of nature, a child of soil, wind, and rain, a member of this earth community, all of which inhabits the loving presence of God.
Sister Joan Brown, former executive director of New Mexico Interfaith Power and Light, responds to McLaren’s question: “What does it mean for a person to be a Franciscan and to feel themselves part of a Franciscan movement?”
I think it’s being Franciscan-hearted.… It’s knowing and feeling oneself as part of everything—from the smallest molecule, to the tree, to the sun that was out this morning. This vast soul connection then interweaves us all together in a community…. We’re living in this time when it’s not the heroes that are influencing us; it’s the communal, it’s all of us, … and we recognize love as core to that. Love is what inspires and moves us towards justice, and towards engagement in the suffering world, to transform, I believe, to be a part of the evolution of beauty in the world, which is what we’re being pulled toward and into. That’s really what this Franciscan-heartedness is about: seeing of beauty within everything.
Michele Dunne, executive director of the Franciscan Action Network, shares what being a Franciscan means to her:
One of the things that appealed to me about the Franciscan life is that it’s a life of prayer and action, action and prayer, back and forth, one feeding the other…. I started down the path of becoming a Secular Franciscan [2], and I thought, I’m going to do this prayer and then I’m going to take action. Then I realized there was … something far more basic, which was my simply being in the present moment and seeing the humanity of every person in front of me and seeing the living earth. I realized I’d gone my whole life sort of objectifying and categorizing, hardly seeing living things. I was seeing them as things. I was seeing people in categories. I had to develop a whole new awareness, an ability to respond and live in the present moment, so that I could be open to what is mine to do.
References:
[1] Francis, The Canticle of the Creatures, in Francis of Assisi: Early Documents, vol. 1, The Saint (New City Press, 2001), 113–114.
[2] Francis of Assisi provided a Rule of life for ordinary people who wanted to join his ministry, and encouraged them to embrace the gospel in the circumstances of their lives. Today, the Secular Franciscan Order includes women, men, and diocesan clergy.
Adapted from Brian McLaren, host, Learning How to See, podcast, season 7, ep. 5, “Seeing Nature as a Franciscan with Michele Dunne and Sister Joan Brown,” Center for Action and Contemplation, October 31, 2024. Available as audio download and PDF transcript.
Image Credit and inspiration: YS Santonii, Untitled (detail), 2023, photo, USA, Unsplash. Click here to enlarge image. We gently receive nature in new ways, perhaps by tenderly touching and gazing to see a new detail.
Story from Our Community:
I am the Great Spirit’s hands and feet on this Earth. That’s why I believe spiritual institutions should always have some role in helping the tired hands and feet of those who courageously engage in nonviolent resistance to deportation, environmental degradation, and violence in our world.
—Richard K.
