A Pagan who made peace with Jesus
A Christian who adores nature
Share the pain of longing
For a child betrayed.
The pagan gives his hand
To the mother who loves Jesus
And they pray together
To God and Goddess.
Two whole beings,
Bonded by blood
Meet on a bridge of hope
Bringing twice the Power
To protect the child
Born with a quiet gift.
Muses sing in her soft red hair
Angels dance in her soft blue eyes
They surround her with their love and light.
Keeping her safe through day and night.
“Surrounded by Your Glory, What will my heart Feel? Will I dance for You Jesus, or in awe of You be still?” (Mercy Me)
I’ve always loved singing Mercy Me’s song, “I Can Only Imagine.” The song’s gentle melodies flow into powerful praise. Singing this a couple days ago, with spring finally here, I suddenly became aware of a new perspective: I am surrounded by God’s glory here on earth. I have been awed by golden sunsets and stilled by the vastness of the ocean. I’ve and danced with joy in the light of the full moon and fallen to my knees in the forest, breathig the breath of the earth.
It sounds a bit pagan doesn’t it? Yet, I am a Christian who loves Creation- like Saint Francis who praised brother sun and sister moon and preached to the birds and tamed a wolf with love- a bridge if you will, for those of us who love the earth and love Jesus, for those who see and feel God in nature.
If we are to honor God, we are called to care for, respect and nurture all of God’s Creation.
Pearly gates and streets of gold have never excited me. When I imagine meeting Jesus, I imagine a natural setting. Jesus lived outdoors much of the time. He spent a lot of time in simple dwellings close to the earth. Jesus went alone into the wilderness to be close to God, to restore his spirit. Heaven, for me, will hopefully be full of wonderful wilderness. We can imagine heaven, and we can open our eyes and our ears and our hearts to heaven on earth
What do you imagine heaven to be like?
When or where have you experienced heaven on earth?
Illustration by Dennis Nolan from Saint Francis of Assisi (A Life of Joy) by Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Today is the Feast Day of Saint Francis who was born in Assisi in 1182. He was a man ahead of his time. Years ago, I struggled to find a link between my potentially pagan love for nature and animals and something (maybe a combination of motherhood and compassion fatigue from my job helping others) pulling me back to Jesus. Discovering Saint Francis was one of those “Aha!” moments. It was a relief to find this teacher who could bridge my two beloved spiritual paths to the Creator.
I was drawn back to church by a newspaper photo of an animal being blessed at the Church of the Good Shepherd. Back then, Good Shepherd may have been the first church in Southeastern North Carolina to bless animals. It started in the late 60s’ on Rogation Sunday, a time to give thanks for crops and livestock. Since that time, it has become a tradition at Good Shepherd and many other churches to bless the animals on the Sunday closest to the Feast Day of Saint Francis. Blessing the animals to honor Saint Francis is much more meaningful to me, because our animal companions mean so much more than livestock. (Though I hope all the animals we now call “livestock” will someday be treated more kindly.)
Our animal friends give us loyalty and patient companionship. They love us no matter what, and hopefully, they teach us mercy. There’s a sweet little song called “God and Dog” in which Wendy Francisco sings about how dogs reflect the unconditional love of God. Saint Francis, the patron saint of animals and the environment, understood this relationship. He cherished animals and the earth, praised the sun and the moon and cared for the lepers because they are all creations of God.
There is a wonderful book, written by Robert F. Kennedy, Jr about Saint Francis of Assisi. One of the stories in this book is a story about Saint Francis convincing a vicious wolf to stop terrorizing the town of Gubbio. Miraculously, “Brother Wolf” lived the rest of his life “peacefully in Gubbio- fed, cared for and loved by the townspeople, because it reminded them of Francis’ visit.
Let us remember today and always the words of Saint Francis, ” Make me a channel of your peace.”
Anything is Possible! 