Simple Peace: Spiritual Life of Francis of Assisi

By Bruce Davis, PhD

Simple Peace is a book of reflections on the spiritual life of St. Francis of Assisi. More than a story of the life of Francis, this book gives the inner life and developement of perhaps the worlds most famous saint. Simple Peace is printed in several languages and enjoyed by many pilgrims who want to know the heart and prayers of our most human saint-Francis of Assisi.

• Language: English
• Publisher: iUniverse
• Release date: Nov 6, 2000
• ISBN: 9781469771168

Bruce Davis, PhD

Bruce Davis, Ph.D., professional therapist, retreat leader is director silentstay.com next to Napa Valley in California. People from many countries attend these retreats for the simple peace, nature, and silence. Bruce's retreats have been recognized in Travel/leisure Magazine as one of the top ten retreats in the world. These retreats have also been recommended in the Huffington Post and Martha Steward's Whole Living Magazine.

Book preview

Contents

Introduction

Chapter 1

The Beginning

Chapter 2

The Soul Speaks

Chapter 3

After the Conversion

Chapter 4

Clare

Chapter 5

Brother Leo

Chapter 6

Lady Poverty

Chapter 7

The Early Morning

Chapter 8

The Holy Mother

Chapter 9

The Blessing of Great Difficulty

Chapter 10

Greccio

Chapter 11

The Unwanted, The Rejected

Chapter 12

Spring Blossoms

Chapter 13

The Path Of Eternity

Bibliography

Introduction

Eight Hundred years ago there lived a man whose life to this day reveals our true spiritual nature and potential. Francis of Assisi, known as the most human of saints, reflects our deepest longing for knowledge of the soul and God within us. The steps he took long ago illuminate the spiritual path today beyond national boundaries, culture, and religion. His life was one of great generosity. His simplicity, humility, and devotion warm yet challenge the heart of everyone who is committed to the God filled journey.

This book is not as much as the story of St. Francis, but reflections on the story behind the story, the inner life that prompted Francis to live so much for love. The steps into the human heart to discover God are personal and unique for everyone. Francis through his writings, the stories of his adventures, and most of all in the caves and gardens, monasteries and mountainsides where he lived, inspires our imagination. He shows us the steps we all have in common. This book reflects where Francis led my spiritual search and touched me in Assisi and the surrounding valleys and mountaintops in Umbria, Italy. Simple Peace shares the inspiration that the lives of Francis and his brothers communicate today as if no time has passed and their heart felt journey into eternity is invitingly present.

Chapter 1

The Beginning

High on Mount Subasio above Assisi, Francis stood with his arms outstretched in joy. The sunlight was dancing through the trees. There was only silence and the light falling off each leaf, landing on the forest floor and Francis’s thin body. In this moment, all Francis wanted was to give himself completely and give thanks to the Creator of all that he experienced.

Slowly, reluctantly Francis walked down the hill to Assisi. Francis was wondering how he could feel so much hope and so much hopelessness for his future? How could he free himself from the expectations of his wealthy family who had seemingly everything but happiness?

How could he free himself of the demands of life in twelfth century Assisi and find his true destiny?

Holy Mother Church was feuding with rival kingdoms. Church fathers were submerged in scandals distracting them from their sacred duties. Crusades in the name of holiness were creating suffering in small towns and villages across Europe.

Francis, more by nature a troubadour and lover than a crusader, was persuaded by patriotism and family pride to enter the fray against neighboring Perugia. Barely adjusting to his new armor and white horse, he would find himself captured and sitting in a Perugian prison within days.

It is not clear which experience that followed in the coming months specifically turned Francis, from disenchanted crusader, to a man committed to a life for the soul. Perhaps finding himself a prisoner in an unjust war or sitting all alone in that wretched cell broke his dreams of following in his father’s footsteps and becoming a successful merchant. Perhaps it was the lingering illness he suffered after his release that dampened his fantasy of being a smooth lover and traveling musician. Maybe it was simply the desire for honesty and truth that many young people feel that pushed Francis to reject the wishes his parents and society had planned for his future. No one knows exactly what experience shaped the heart of Francis. What is clear, Francis became determined. Life without real love has no meaning.

For certain he could not find purpose simply acquiring riches in his Father’s clothing factory while workers lived little better than slaves. Neither could Francis mouth halfhearted prayers with his French mother who lived meanwhile in the shadows filled with fear of his father’s strong will and anger. The injustice around Francis was too much to simply ignore. The life planned for him was too limiting, too confining. The voice ringing in his heart was saying, No, no…no! This knowing what he did not want was in the beginning enough to be his guide in his pursuit of a life for his soul.

Francis did not want to fight for causes, such as the crusades that were a disguise for someone else’s selfish desires. He did not want to marry if marriage was about image and duty and not about love. He did not want to work just to work. Life had to be more than just merely living. But where does one turn when one is desperate for purpose and guidance?

Francis lived on a see saw between euphoria and depression, between his certainty of God and torment that God is inaccessible. He rebelled against other’s ideas and expectations and took refuge in his own inner world. In the midst of his life’s turmoil was an island of rest and youthful yearning. He had always had this place inside where he escaped his father’s anger and the demands of the world. He simply shut out what was not comfortable and remained in his own inner world and peace. Francis took long walks and talked to the trees. He’d sit next to the small flowers, grateful that he could enjoy their beauty before they lost their petals and were gone forever.

Francis assumed everyone had such intimate moments. Instead of bending to the demands of the world, Francis went to his secret place where no one could get to him. He never talked about it much. His parents thought it was only fantasies and would disappear as he grew up. Even Francis wasn’t certain if his inner journeys were real or only his imagination. But it didn’t matter. Francis had his home inside where nothing could intrude. He took long walks in the Umbrian countryside where he could feel undisturbed. The nature’s beauty wove easily together with his inner world pointing him toward his soul.

Whether Francis was escaping life or finding the real life depends upon one’s point of view. Which world was he going to call true, the everyday life with its demands or his own inner life? One thing was clear, in nature both worlds came together. Francis felt whole. He could feel himself, what it is to be human, two arms, two legs, a heart. In the life filled forests of central Italy, he was another one of God’s creatures. He didn’t worry about what others wanted from him. There was no one telling him what to do. The war with Perugia was over. Francis was finished living his life for someone else. Now he had the more difficult journey, finding a life that was true.

His only companion was an old priest who was half deaf, half crippled, and to many only half alive. But this priest accepted Francis. He didn’t ask many questions. He made Francis welcome in his simple home in the ruins of the old church, San Damiano, just down the hill from Assisi. Somehow it was fitting to live in the ruins with the stone altar exposed to the elements and a fallen cross being the only reminder that this was a church.

This fallen cross captivated Francis in many hours of sitting. It was not a typical cross with Jesus all twisted and suffering. Francis could not understand the church’s preoccupation in adoring suffering. There was already plenty of this. This cross showed Christ naked and resurrected. Francis felt naked and yearned for resurrection. This picture of Christ resurrected in the midst of the old church ruins was somehow perfect. Christ and Francis were reaching for something and somehow it was appropriate they were together.

At night Francis would sit by the fire with the old priest. Sleeping under the stars gave both of them hope. The priest enjoyed the fresh air for his ailments and Francis for his depression. The days were filled with Francis hearing over and over in his head, the loud voice of his father asking, When are you going to stop sitting around? When are you going to do something with your life? The questions stuck to his bones. He wanted an answer as much as anyone. The voices of the village and his own inner dialogues followed him even in his lonely treks into the woods. What is one to do with one’s life?

Everyone seems to be doing so much yet somehow doing nothing at all. Everyone was busy, but busy with everything but what life should be about. As the many faces of his friends and neighbors in Assisi would appear and reappear in his mind, Francis could hardly find one face with gentleness and kindness. There was no one who would inspire him to live as him or her. Even Church elders were stressed and overweight with worries and tensions. No one enjoyed the flowers, especially the flowers of the heart. Sunsets are not seen. Rain is run away from. If Francis was to ask someone, Is the moon full or just beginning?, more likely than not, the person would not know. What has happened to joy? How do so many people settle for so little?

Chapter 2

The Soul Speaks

In the spirit filled life, an unusual event or experience, perhaps a surprise encounter, a lucid dream or coincidence can create a clear light against the confusing back drop of everyday life. For Francis several experiences came upon him and eventually he was to understand their significance and interconnection.

One evening, Francis returned to San Damiano feeling as if physically beaten. It had been another long, cold day hearing his fellow citizens of Assisi reacting to his presence. They yelled at one another over their infamous lazy son, Francis, son of Peter Bernardone. People were afraid that Francis’ aimless sitting in the town square would begin to influence the other young citizens of Assisi to mirror his lack of productivity. One time friends and neighbors turned away from him in disgust. Francis overwhelmed with rejection and inner turmoil felt his heart torn and broken into pieces. He fell to his knees and found himself pleading to Jesus Christ. Not expecting any answer from the old cross, he looked up and with perfect clarity saw Jesus standing in front of him. Before Francis could adjust or interpret what was happening, Jesus said to him Rebuild my church. Abruptly the vision ended. For Francis everything was just beginning. That night the Earth, the sky, was full of life. Nature’s sounds were everywhere around Francis. The stars were no longer far away but right here, totally present. His experience was real, more real than any usual encounter. Christ, naked, stood and spoke, Rebuild my church. Francis played the