I know that I worry too much. I am a parent of four, but to say that is to give myself an excuse. I simply worry, and I know it’s a problem.
What if there’s a long line and we miss the beginning of the show? What if it rains? I don’t so much fret as sweat about the health of my kids, the happiness of my marriage, the future of the publishing business in which I work. It was only when I began to look into the life of Francis of Assisi that my perspective began to change.
One day St. Francis was traveling on foot with one of his friends. Observing Brother Leo bothered by the cold and freezing rain, Francis said, “What do think is the source of joy, Leo?” Annoyed, Leo walked faster. Francis spoke again a few minutes later: “There’s no joy in great theology, Leo.” For miles, this went on, Leo walking, ignoring Francis, Francis talking to his friend, who pretended not to listen. Finally, Leo stopped, spun around and said, “Okay, so what is the true source of joy?!”
“When we arrive,” Francis said, “our cloaks drenched by rain, our bodies shivering with cold, and we knock at the door, if our host says, ‘Wait outside awhile’—if we bear all of this with patience, kindness, and love, then, we will be brimming with joy.”
Now I practice replacing my worries with faith, hope, and gratitude. I try fasting on special days – especially this time of year. I focus on the discomfort I am experiencing and realize its unimportance. By making my perspective shorter, looking ahead less often and living each moment more fully without pouring water on the seeds of worry, I hope to become a part of God’s larger perspective and begin to accept that with joy.
Jon M. Sweeney
Jon M. Sweeney is an independent scholar who has written widely on the life of St. Francis. His books include St. Francis of Assisi (new from St. Martin's Press), The Complete Francis of Assisi, and The Enthusiast, a biography Fr. Richard Rohr called "An immense and important contribution to our understanding of the great saint." HBO optioned the film rights to Sweeney's history about the medieval Celestine V, The Pope Who Quit.
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