Today, October 4th, we celebrate the Memorial of St. Francis of Assisi. \u00a0He is among the more popular saints. \u00a0I myself have read biographies about him and have a picture of him sitting on a table in my sitting room. \u00a0In the picture, he is standing outside in the woods dressed in his Franciscan robe with a bird flying at his fingertips.<\/p>\n
I think St. Francis’ popularity is growing today because of his love of nature. \u00a0He is a patron saint of the environment and in a world where global climate change and how we are using our resources is a big concern, St. Francis is called upon for his intercession.<\/p>\n
I like St. Francis for two reasons. \u00a0First, I too love nature. \u00a0I just love being outside. \u00a0It is a big part of why I try to take daily walks. \u00a0Sometimes people ask me if I miss my job working for the New York State Department of Transportation. \u00a0I think when they ask this question, they are doing so in the context of do I miss being an engineer. \u00a0Sometimes, but what I miss most about my job with the state is that for five of the seven years I worked for the state, I worked on construction projects and that meant I got to be outside\u00a0every\u00a0<\/em>day. \u00a0That is what I miss most.<\/p>\n Next to the picture of St. Francis on my sitting table is a window that is six to eight feet across. \u00a0While it is a big window, I only open the curtains about one foot in the middle. \u00a0By doing so, the view I have from my chair is of the trees in the backyard and the roofline of the neighbor’s garage that is shaped like an old barn roof. That is the image that reminds me of God’s creation. \u00a0If I open the curtains more, I see more houses, etc. \u00a0I prefer the simple setting of the trees and the barn roof.<\/p>\n That leads into the second reason I like St. Francis. \u00a0He lived under a vow of poverty but not for the sake of being poor but rather for simplicity of life. \u00a0We live in a busy world. \u00a0We have too many things going on in our lives and that keeps us from knowing God and being aware of God’s presence in our lives. \u00a0I find God in the quiet moments and so I long for simplicity of life.<\/p>\n We live in a world that is constantly changing at a rapid pace. \u00a0In my own lifetime we have gone from computers that took up a whole room to do basic calculations to having cell phones that manage our lives. \u00a0I myself have a smart phone, an office computer, and a laptop for gadgets.<\/p>\n The first car I drove was a manual shift. \u00a0Now, they are coming out with cars that drive themselves. \u00a0Does any of this really make our lives any better?<\/p>\n The vehicle I currently drive has a built in GPS system to tell me how to get to where I am going. \u00a0GPS in the car stands for “global positioning system.” \u00a0What I need most in my life is a different type of GPS system. \u00a0What I need is a “God positioning system<\/em>” to put me where God wants me to be.<\/p>\n Peace,<\/p>\n Fr. Jeff<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Today, October 4th, we celebrate the Memorial of St. Francis of Assisi. \u00a0He is among the more popular saints. \u00a0I myself have read biographies about him and have a picture of him sitting on a table in my sitting room. \u00a0In the picture, he is standing outside in the woods dressed in his Franciscan robe …<\/p>\n