St Francis and Blessings
Sunday October 4 is the day designated to remember and give thanks for St Francis of Assisi. He was known There is a story that St. Francis of Assisi wrote out this blessing from Numbers for his dear friend Leo who was struggling. Leo would go on to carry around the piece of parchment that contained that blessing for more than forty years.
Blessings matter. Words matter. We matter and how we show up in the world matters. As we remember the gifts of St Francis and his deep love for all of God’s creatures and all of God’s creation- take time to enter into that energy of blessing.
Growing up the Priestly blessing from Numbers 6:24-26 (the instructions to Moses to tell Aaron to bless the people Israel) was the benediction that I heard every Sunday at the end of the worship service:
The Lord bless you and keep you;
the Lord make his face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you;
the Lord lift up his countenance upon you, and give you peace.
To this day those words remind me to take in the blessing of God and let it be my peace. This week I invite you to take these words of blessing and make them your own. Perhaps consider how you can share the blessings in your life. It can be a helpful practice to “count” our blessings as when we name them it is a reminder of the gifts we have been given.
As we give God thanks for St Francis and his deep love and care of all that God created consider how maybe it’s the blessing of unconditional love from a pet. As I heard of the deep sorrow of my niece whose cat died this week I was reminded of how much unconditional love our furry friends can share. There are also those who regularly give God thanks and count the blessings of living on this amazing planet with all of it’s beauty.
In the story that is told of Francis sharing the blessing with his friend he could both acknowledge the heartache and difficult time his friend was experiencing and share with him words of blessing. The photo I have at the top of this post is of my two dogs. I am so grateful for the many ways they share unconditional love and acceptance. I often joke that I show up better in the world when I show up more like them.
In the spirit of St Francis it is also a wonderful time to take care of this earth and all that is in it as a way to give God thanks. When I looked for some resources about St Francis I can across this “Live Like Francis” calendar. Not all of it may be a fit for all of us and it can be an inspiration to take some of the suggestions and try them out.
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