Encounter with Francis of Assisi
Then I enrolled myself for studies in Franciscan Spirituality. These sessions made me realize that my idea of peace had a long way to go. I was told that peace comes from the Hebrew or Aramaic word, ‘Shalom’ meaning, health, sanity, safety, prosperity, salvation, benevolence, joy, serenity, security, beatitude, solidarity, collaboration and reconciliation.

In other words, we can say that peace is the sum total of all the goods possessed by our first parents in the Garden of Eden and which were restored to us by the resurrection of Christ. It is, therefore, a positive behavior and capacity by which we relate to God, to ourselves, to others, and finally to the whole creation. One day my Professor of Spirituality related a story from the life of Saint Francis which baffled my whole understanding of peace. He said, that one day Francis of Assisi was crossing the Lake Trasimeno in a small boat and was heading for the hermitage of Greccio. A fisherman offered him a little water-bird, a duck, so that he could rejoice with his brothers. Saint Francis received it gladly, and with open hands, gently invited it to enjoy its freedom. But the bird did not want to leave him: instead it settled down on his hands as though they were a nest, and the saint, his eyes lifted up, remained in prayer. Returning to himself as if from a long stay in another place, he sweetly told the little bird to return to its original freedom. And so the bird, having received his permission and with a blessing, flew away expressing its joy through the movement of its body.

“A simple story”, my professor said. And he continued, “in fact, what is important, is what Francis does not do with the bird: he doesn’t hold on to it; he does not keep it, he doesn’t eat it, or pluck its feather, nor does he dispatch it to the poor, or send it to his brothers, nor does he send it to Clare. He allows it to rest on his hand. Francis’ contact with that duck is prayerful. He does not want to hold on to it. The touch of this bird, transforms Francis and causes him to lift his eyes up. This contemplative rapture, this prayerful attitude of his, is for me the most apt expression of not owning anything of one’s own. Encouraging the bird to move away into its freedom is what it means to live without appropriating, without owning.”

The things that are given to us by the Father of all goodness are in reality gifts, gifts to be received with open hands. Think of the state of that creature had Francis decided to grasp it; or to twist its neck... ‘because I want to make it my own’. What was beautiful, what had been vivacious and was created to fly, dies when I grasp it. That is what happens when I hold it, possess it. The thing itself is good, what changes it is the way I react to it. That makes all the difference!
My professor told me, there are many stories about the way Francis reacted to this world: One such story speaks of a fire at La Verna. When Francis came to have his meal there, there was a fire in the cell in which the food was prepared. As the fire had gone to the roof, his companion, Leo, tried to extinguish it but could not do so by himself. Brothers seeing the fire from a distance came to extinguish it. But Saint Francis did not want to extinguish it. Instead he took the blanket with which he used to cover himself at night and went into the forest.

Later Francis returned to eat his meal. After his meal, he told his companions, “From now on I don’t want this hide, it is because of my avarice that, I did not want Brother Fire to consume it”. For Francis, brother Fire, needs these things for food, fire eats these things, consumes them. Francis accuses himself of avarice for taking away from this creature what it wanted to consume. Surely, this is a man who has a different view of the world. A totally different mind-set to live in the world.

Francis’ attitude to the world was so very different - a reverential attitude! I stayed riveted at the way the stories developed. This is a different way of seeing the world and relating to creatures. All things, living and non-living, animate and inanimate have an innate dignity given to them by the Creator. They are not just at the wanton mastery of the human person. Getting used to the culture of our day, getting used to the ‘Use and Throw’ culture of our day won’t make a “Common Home”.

Saint Francis told the brother who wanted to get firewood, need not to cut down the whole tree, but cut it in such a way that one part of it remained. He also told the brother who took care of the garden to leave a piece of land for wild plants, and not just for flowers. He said all this proclaims that God made all these things for me. The brothers who were with him found him always praising things God had created, and touching and looking at them. It appeared that he was no more on earth, but in heaven.

Besides his attitude towards creatures, particularly towards the animals, insects, worms, what is seemingly unimportant, and what is not useful: he would reverently pick up pieces of paper thrown on the floor, pieces with words, pertaining to the Word though in themselves …not very useful, as they were not even a book, but just pieces of paper, he did so as they might contain the words of the Lord. Such an attitude is surely a contemplative view of things. He constantly asked this question: where does the good come from? He knew the answer. It comes from God. He creates it from nothing and gives it to us. To whom does it belong? All good belongs to Him. Francis’ constant prayer was one of praise and thanksgiving, rather than one of asking, “give me, give me…” but instead, “thank you, thank you.” This indeed is living in the world without appropriating…Do I feel the need to own anything? To own anybody? Questions like these are contradictory to the spirit and attitude of Francis!

Beyond Ahimsa
This is an attitude so different from our modern, technological and consumerist mentality. It poses questions like, what can I use that for, how can I transform it to be useful for me. The non-appropriate attitude on the other hand would mean: not owning, not grasping, and not always making things productive or efficient or useful. This makes us question how we treat the world and other people and ourselves. Is my attitude with regard to myself, in terms of my utility? How useful am I? Francis wanted to call himself a useless servant. The time Francis spent with the lepers, was for him an experience of sweetness. He deliberately associated himself with these lepers, people who are not useful or productive for their society. How do I look at others: is it in terms of what they have and how I can use them? Or what can they do for me? Or what can they give me? The elderly and infirm housed in the Home for the Aged, for example. Can I behold those people with my eyes turned to God in thanksgiving? “Not for what you can do for me, but simply because of what you are.”

Thus, The canticle of Brother Sun composed shortly before his death sprang from this mentality of Francis: It was not how can I use it for myself, The medieval agriculturist would make every bit of land produce but Francis was not interested in the things the land would produce. It was not efficiency which drew his attention. For him property was not just a matter of ownership, which invested me with the right to do what I want, so that I could cultivate the land to produce sufficient vegetables for me, and leave the rest uncultivated. Be careful how you use the land!
When I sense and see pollution, I don’t denounce it just because it’s bad for the economy, and harmful for breathing, but because it doesn’t respond to the plan of God who created us all. If the human person is master of the earth, it means he has to recognize the place allotted to every creature. Respecting them would mean that we do not invade the vital space allotted to every other creature. Hence space has been provided by God for wild animals, for flowers and for coral reefs in the depths of the sea.

We need to make peace with each and every reality we encounter, just as we have to make peace with every person, “Praise be you, my Lord. For those who pardon for love of you.” And we need to make peace with illness as well, “and sustain infirmity and tribulation”. None of these realities are against you, they exist for you! They must also exist with you!
Hence every inter-human and inter-creature relationship and relationship with God makes up for peace. Peace is not just a job or a task to be done but a state of being on the earth. Indeed, I really need to make a long journey into peace within me and around me and with my God!∎

Joy Prakash OFM is a scholar, writer and a professor in Fransciscanism.

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