Faith, Family, Furry, and Fire: A Message from the Way of St Francis

By Brad Zervas

Brad Zervas reveals something quite different from his previous literary efforts in Faith, Family, Furry, and Fire.

While his other books focus on practical ways to raise our boys and support our fathers, this work explores the Way of St. Francis and the belief that all living things deserve our consideration. When embraced, this idea could lead us to a more just and sustainable world order.

As an ecologist, defender of plants and animals, and as a man who turned away from material riches, St. Francis discovered that all living things exist in the dominion of his “Father.” He blazed a trail that others have tried to follow for centuries.

The author observes that while we have worked tirelessly to find ways to divide ourselves into specific groups with the intent of somehow elevating ourselves so that God sees us and not the other, it has always been the other that has been able to show us the depths and possibilities of kindness.

He concludes that faith, family, fire, and furry remain embedded in our lives—the four basic elements that knowingly and unknowingly comprise the very chemistry that shapes us—pilgrims each walking toward our last and final surrender.

• Language: English
• Publisher: LifeRich Publishing
• Release date: Sep 18, 2022
• ISBN: 9781489743732

Brad Zervas

Brad Zervas will tell his readers that he has been blessed – blessed with a family, a career and with the unyielding belief that we can be better. After graduating The University of Massachusetts with degrees in Education and Latin American Studies, he went on to lead some of this nation’s most storied social service organizations – and did this after leading a literary program at a maximum-security facility. He would respectfully remind his supporters that he followed a path with the conviction that intervention, kindness and empathy at their core, represent a pathway to a better life and to the fulfillment of the potential that is far too often ignored among legions of our children – children mired as such in trajectories of dysfunction, neglect and in the very premise that they remain invisible and somehow not worthy of our political will. Zervas’ three previous works: “They Are All Our Sons : Principles to Ignite Our Boys”; A Father’s Job Is Never Done: The Work, The Worry and the Wonder of it All”; and “The Loss of Civility and The Abduction of The Truth: Letters to the President”; have each received high praise – praise not sought, and praise better extended to those most in need. He would go on to maintain that to be truly and consciously humbled is a luxury afforded only to those with the means to do so. To those among us who are impacted and impaired by a global dynamic that threatens us all, Zervas would suggest that we consider something that transcends boarders, our religious differences, histories, and those elements of our traditions and backgrounds that should unite us rather than divide us. In weakness there does exist strength and he would ask that we weigh our individual capacities to make a difference and to shape a way forward that might allow us to reach greater clarity, community and commitment.

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Faith, Family,

Furry, and Fire

A Message from The Way of St Francis

BRAD ZERVAS

Copyright © 2022 Brad Zervas.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by

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without the written permission of the author except in the case of

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This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, names, incidents,

organizations, and dialogue in this novel are either the products

of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

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bible scripture: NIV Study Bible, 1995 Zondervan Corporation

ISBN: 978-1-4897-4372-5 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4897-4371-8 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4897-4373-2 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2022916156

LifeRich Publishing rev. date: 09/09/2022

It is in pardoning that we are pardoned.

Francis of Assisi

For All Things Living

Contents

In The Beginning

Preparing for the Way

A Return

Let it Be

In Search of Economic Humanism

Into the Reveal

What Could Have Been – Thy Will Be Done

Acknowledgements

In The Beginning

N ever have I had to work so hard on a title and rest assured, I am still not sure if this will help to capture my efforts and consolidate much of what has concerned me over the past several months. Earlier possible titles included a trinity of considerations that I had hoped would quell the growing sense of dread that seemed to usher in each new day. Faith, Family and Firearms became a leading contender. Frankly, it haunted me with a sense of dread and melancholy. When we consider yet more mass shootings it is no wonder why I drifted towards such a deeply felt lament. I am generally quite optimistic as a person and much of my earlier work, I believe, reflects this. In the end, though, it was my faith and the ensuing furry and fire that have defined me as a man…a definition that has yet to be fully illustrated and one that will not be until my last days or perhaps in the afterlife should I be blessed as such. And just how will all this be shaped and formatted into a 21 st century expression? Only the Lord knows what we each leave behind and craft along the way. This is yet another new beginning – an attempt to celebrate our best and a willingness to embrace the shadows of darkness that always seem to be presenting themselves at the next fork in the road. The title arrived at, will I hope, be made clear as this narrative unfolds.

For those familiar with much of my previous work, this might seem overly simplistic. As we each advance in age it becomes hopefully clearer and clearer that which matters most. Faith is both singular and plural. In its plurality it has represented some of our most base instincts. As individuals shielded from the perceived light of day (darkness can often reveal the truth), we can escape the need to vilify, subjugate and elevate ourselves to positions of exaltation. When we join a group, we run the risk of losing ourselves and drifting towards our worst intentions. There is nothing very profound here. It is a simple axiom. Rather than lend a hand to the one scaling the latter behind us, we might very well choose to step on the very hand that is clinging for a faith yet realized while we dispense yet another brand of furry. I will make little effort here to try and define these very human propensities.

Yes, I do believe that our history is riddled with broken dreams and the search for the afterlife. Distilling this as such remains at the center of the world’s great religions – religions that have often rendered far much more harm than their acolytes could or would have ever imagined – a willful distain for the goodness that exists in each one of us and in all things living – a condition we seem unable to escape.

Like most works of non-fiction, I will run the risk of confusing what I have come to believe is the truth from the very truth itself. It is a common phenomenon among writers of my ilk and one that I readily accept and one that I hope my readers will forgive me for. It is grand folly that we all engage in from time-to-time. I am not sure where this will lead me. I have always been prone to the improvisational – a rather syncopated beat that might have me turn left when I would have preferred to turn right. My influences have been many and from almost every imaginable human endeavor. These have been detailed throughout my