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Great Thinkers in the History of the Church (no. 19)
Happy is the person who bears with neighbors, understanding their frail natures, as much as he would want to be borne with by them.
--St. Francis of Assisi (b. c. 1182), Admonitions
Comments
The Abbot was sitting in the wood with the monks. They were enjoying a picnic. There was a farmer passing by. He asked the Abbot and monks, "Have you seen my cows?" The Abbot replied, "No."
The farmer moaned, "I'm so unhappy. I have cows, and now they have run away. I have several acres of corn, and we are not getting enough rain for it to grow. And my barns are getting old and about to fall down. I live alone and endure much loneliness. I suffer so much that I've considered just killing myself."
The Abbot said, "Sir, please don't kill yourself, for your life is a precious gift from God. Better for you to join us." The farmer asked, "Sir, what will I have among you?" "Joy," spoke the Abbot. "And," asked the farmer, "what must I do to join you, to receive this joy?" The Abbot replied, "Only give up all your possessions, except the clothes you wear." The farmer replied, "No, I can't do that. I must find my cows and return and tend my land."
The farmer thanked the Abbot and left, and the Abbot turned to his monks. He spoke, "My sons, you are the most joyful and peaceful people in the world. You don't have anything to lose or anything to defend. And you have time for fellowship with others and with God, while most persons are too busy to enjoy either fellowship with God or others."
Jesus, in the Sermon on the Mount, speaks to us about possessions:
20 Gather together riches in heaven where they will not be eaten by bugs or become rusted. Men cannot break in and steal them. 21 For wherever your riches are, your heart will be there also (Matthew 6, NLV)
Where is your heart? Of course, likely no one reading this is called by God to give up everything except the clothes you wear and join a religious order. Still, those who have lived in material poverty as a religious vocation remind us of a spiritual surrender of earthly treasure.
The vocation of every Christian is to surrender all earthly possessions for love of Christ and creation. We appreciate the good things we are given to enjoy and live thankfully for them. However, these things are only for temporary use, to edify others and ourselves.
Surrender of earthly possessions is a rite of inner poverty. In this spiritual poverty, we release our heart, the center of will and affections, from attachment to things to focus all our being upon spiritual Reality and to nurture virtues Christlike. We remain aware of the potential of maintenance of goods to detract from contentment and fellowship.
We cannot rightly follow Christ unless we take our relationship to earthly goods seriously and wisely. We cannot give to Christ our whole being in love and compartmentalize life, as though we can be greedy and hoard earthly things and enjoy intimate love with Christ and others.
Reflection
1. Do you spend sufficient time fellowshipping with God? Explain.
2. Do you have adequate time to enjoy time with family and friends? Explain.
3. What is your relationship to things?
4. Do you have to many things to store away or attend to? If so, what do you want to do about that?
5. Would you like to live a more simple and contented life? How might you proceed to do that?
*OneLife writings are offered by Brian K. Wilcox, a United Methodist pastor serving in the Florida Conference of the United Methodist Church. Brian lives a vowed contemplative life with his two dogs, Bandit Ty and St. Francis, in North Florida. OneLife writings are for anyone seeking to live and share love, joy, and peace in the world and in devotion to God as she or he best understands God.
**To be on a daily reading list to receive notifications of when a new OneLife writing is up, its title, and an excerpt, write briankwilcox@comcast.net .
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