WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:01.640 Whenever you're ready. 00:00:01.800 --> 00:00:02.100 Yes. 00:00:02.280 --> 00:00:02.680 Thank you. 00:00:30.000 --> 00:00:36.719 Good morning, John. 00:00:56.219 --> 00:00:57.900 Well, friends, let's get underway. 00:00:57.899 --> 00:01:00.420 Hi. My name's Rhys. 00:01:00.780 --> 00:01:05.219 If this is your first time coming on, it's really great to have you in this session. 00:01:05.319 --> 00:01:12.640 I also wanted to begin in this Thanksgiving season by thanking Trinity, not only for the 00:01:12.640 --> 00:01:19.239 invitation to give kind of sessions like this at Adult Sunday School, but for all the hospitality 00:01:19.239 --> 00:01:22.359 I've received at Trinity over quite a number of years. 00:01:22.359 --> 00:01:28.859 I've been coming here for about 17 years on and off, and I always feel like it's a spiritual 00:01:28.859 --> 00:01:31.640 home where I'm nurtured, encouraged in the faith. 00:01:31.780 --> 00:01:35.060 So in the spirit of Thanksgiving, I thank you. 00:01:35.060 --> 00:01:36.060 Thank you. 00:01:36.060 --> 00:01:37.060 Thank you. 00:01:37.060 --> 00:01:40.200 This morning is the PS. 00:01:40.200 --> 00:01:41.200 Thanks. 00:01:41.200 --> 00:01:46.760 We did three sessions a couple of months back, and there was a lot of interest. 00:01:46.760 --> 00:01:50.379 A lot of questions were generated around the life of Francis. 00:01:50.379 --> 00:01:57.899 So I wrote to Nick and said, if there were a slot, it might be worthwhile spending a little 00:01:57.899 --> 00:01:59.340 bit more time with Francis himself. 00:01:59.840 --> 00:02:07.120 I've just completed a translation of a biography of Francis from German to English. 00:02:07.120 --> 00:02:10.420 So I'm buzzing with new things that I've learned. 00:02:11.819 --> 00:02:16.379 It won't be quite available, I think, in the bookshops for Christmas, but if you decide you 00:02:16.379 --> 00:02:21.219 want to buy a January 20 present, then that's probably the go-to place. 00:02:22.400 --> 00:02:23.259 Let me pray. 00:02:25.400 --> 00:02:32.960 We do praise you, Heavenly Father, for brothers and sisters who are alive today or who've lived 00:02:32.960 --> 00:02:39.800 in the past, who've, according to their own lights, fought the fight and finished the 00:02:39.800 --> 00:02:40.140 race. 00:02:42.300 --> 00:02:49.120 We thank you that we can gather this morning and think and learn and talk and listen. 00:02:50.080 --> 00:02:59.500 Please may we find deep roots that our faith would be not blown by every wind of deception, 00:02:59.500 --> 00:03:03.599 but that we know our security in Christ. 00:03:04.460 --> 00:03:05.800 For it's in his name we pray. 00:03:07.039 --> 00:03:07.479 Amen. 00:03:08.479 --> 00:03:10.240 It's almost an Anglican setting here. 00:03:10.300 --> 00:03:11.500 No one's in the front row, but... 00:03:12.120 --> 00:03:19.300 First of all, some thoughts on the life itself of Francis. 00:03:19.659 --> 00:03:23.860 I'm not assuming that you know very much about his life story. 00:03:23.860 --> 00:03:30.340 That will be useful just to fill in some gaps before I make some kind of more general reflections. 00:03:31.380 --> 00:03:37.220 And, of course, you're very welcome to interrupt, to put up your hand or to tackle me from the 00:03:37.220 --> 00:03:39.080 podium whenever you want to. 00:03:39.960 --> 00:03:46.020 There's no dumb questions, just dumb answers, so please feel free to ask what's on your mind 00:03:46.020 --> 00:03:46.840 as we go along. 00:03:46.840 --> 00:03:54.379 As you'll see from his dates, he lived just about 800 years ago. 00:03:55.340 --> 00:04:04.680 Next year, or at least in 2026, we'll be celebrating or commemorating the 800th anniversary of Francis' 00:04:04.920 --> 00:04:05.240 death. 00:04:05.920 --> 00:04:09.180 So he lived in the High Middle Ages. 00:04:10.120 --> 00:04:11.780 The Middle Ages were coming to an end. 00:04:13.120 --> 00:04:14.340 You don't need to have my water. 00:04:14.340 --> 00:04:20.519 The Middle Ages were coming to an end and the period of the Renaissance and the Reformation 00:04:20.519 --> 00:04:21.439 were about to begin. 00:04:22.800 --> 00:04:29.500 He was born to a very wealthy, we might say middle-class family. 00:04:30.259 --> 00:04:36.459 His father was a silk merchant in central Italy in Umbria. 00:04:37.120 --> 00:04:40.280 Umbria is not so well known, but people know Tuscany. 00:04:40.759 --> 00:04:42.120 It's a little bit south of there. 00:04:42.120 --> 00:04:45.860 He grew up a privileged life. 00:04:46.220 --> 00:04:48.620 He was not pious in any way. 00:04:49.439 --> 00:04:53.840 He ran amok in the town, making mischief. 00:04:55.139 --> 00:04:58.699 He had a very difficult relationship with his father. 00:04:59.920 --> 00:05:02.459 He had some kind of education. 00:05:02.459 --> 00:05:10.339 He could do some very basic maths so that he could work out how much to charge people for 00:05:10.339 --> 00:05:12.899 the silk that were buying in his father's store. 00:05:13.839 --> 00:05:20.060 He could write letters, but otherwise he was pretty well uneducated. 00:05:20.060 --> 00:05:30.459 Often we discover in Christian history that a bad relationship with a mother or father, often it's been a father, 00:05:31.139 --> 00:05:35.060 makes individuals think hard about... 00:05:35.060 --> 00:05:38.319 My water is travelling around. 00:05:38.379 --> 00:05:38.959 Will it fit in here? 00:05:39.040 --> 00:05:39.620 No, it will not. 00:05:47.160 --> 00:05:54.680 Often in Christian history we'll find people who have struggled with their own relationship with their parents 00:05:54.680 --> 00:06:03.240 and that often predisposes them to think again about the whys and wherefores of their own life or their own ministry. 00:06:03.240 --> 00:06:15.040 As a young man, he went to war for Assisi, his hometown, against a neighbouring larger town called Perugia. 00:06:16.000 --> 00:06:18.639 Perugia was always bound to win. 00:06:19.500 --> 00:06:27.680 Perugia aligned itself with the Pope, whereas Assisi, where Francis grew up, aligned itself not with the Pope, 00:06:27.900 --> 00:06:29.900 but with the Holy Roman Emperor. 00:06:29.899 --> 00:06:34.079 There were distinct power blocks in Italy at the time. 00:06:36.019 --> 00:06:42.779 Francis was taken prisoner in that war and held in captivity for about a year. 00:06:43.539 --> 00:06:49.879 I can't imagine what a medieval cell would look like for a prisoner of war. 00:06:50.779 --> 00:06:57.819 He got very sick and suffered greatly psychologically as well as physically. 00:06:57.819 --> 00:07:05.300 I gave a talk not dissimilar to this at a Christian study centre at Virginia Tech a couple of years ago. 00:07:05.800 --> 00:07:13.279 A woman was in the seminar and she came up to me afterwards and she said she and her husband work with veterans, 00:07:13.579 --> 00:07:15.339 army veterans, military veterans, 00:07:15.339 --> 00:07:23.319 and they often used the example of Francis for someone who both suffered post-traumatic stress 00:07:23.319 --> 00:07:28.219 and seemed to process their PTSD. 00:07:29.259 --> 00:07:36.259 So she was...I didn't have any idea that this was what kind of ministries amongst the US military 00:07:36.259 --> 00:07:40.399 might take as a resource, but it was a really interesting perspective. 00:07:40.399 --> 00:07:46.699 It does seem like he suffered PTSD after that year in prison. 00:07:48.240 --> 00:07:52.360 He leaves and he's a man who's restless. 00:07:53.719 --> 00:07:57.579 He seems not to easily find his place in the world. 00:07:57.579 --> 00:08:05.099 That might be a consequence of the poor relationship with his father, not enjoying firm attachments. 00:08:05.560 --> 00:08:10.319 It's probably exacerbated by his experience as a prisoner of war as well. 00:08:11.199 --> 00:08:14.639 At one stage, he's in a church. 00:08:15.839 --> 00:08:17.479 It's a run-down church. 00:08:18.419 --> 00:08:20.339 The walls are barely standing. 00:08:20.339 --> 00:08:30.459 And he hears the crucifix, the piece of art, the Lord Jesus who's there affixed to the cross, 00:08:30.899 --> 00:08:32.419 say these words, 00:08:33.559 --> 00:08:39.360 Go, rebuild my church, repair my church which has fallen down. 00:08:40.620 --> 00:08:44.959 Of course, we have no idea what kind of reality this was, 00:08:44.960 --> 00:08:50.980 how he's processing psychologically his experience. 00:08:51.800 --> 00:08:55.820 But he takes this as a command from the Lord. 00:08:56.440 --> 00:08:57.500 It's kind of remarkable. 00:08:58.740 --> 00:09:04.620 So he commits himself to buying stone 00:09:04.620 --> 00:09:11.480 and having it delivered to local village dilapidated churches 00:09:11.480 --> 00:09:17.399 and with his own hands finding mortar and rebuilding walls. 00:09:17.539 --> 00:09:23.039 He's taken the words from the crucifix completely literally. 00:09:24.480 --> 00:09:25.820 Rebuild my church. 00:09:26.259 --> 00:09:29.060 Build up the walls of my church, however we might translate it. 00:09:30.539 --> 00:09:36.580 If you visit Assisi today, you can still see the speaking crucifix. 00:09:36.580 --> 00:09:39.180 It didn't communicate very much to me, I must say. 00:09:39.660 --> 00:09:45.440 But it is powerfully formative of a certain kind of Christian tradition. 00:09:48.100 --> 00:09:50.759 In building up the church, 00:09:51.240 --> 00:09:54.320 in literally rebuilding the church, 00:09:55.220 --> 00:09:59.280 he sees, as it were, his wealth 00:09:59.280 --> 00:10:03.820 and the ways in which he can serve those around him. 00:10:03.820 --> 00:10:09.800 In fact, he begins to serve lepers and the poor. 00:10:11.020 --> 00:10:15.260 Lepers, on the whole, were not allowed in a walled city. 00:10:16.379 --> 00:10:20.140 Walls represented some kind of protection, some kind of purity. 00:10:20.900 --> 00:10:23.620 Often lepers lived outside the city walls. 00:10:23.720 --> 00:10:28.440 So perhaps it is that he's been building derelict churches 00:10:28.440 --> 00:10:33.720 and he's seen lepers who perhaps also need shelter or comfort. 00:10:34.920 --> 00:10:39.040 They seem to accept him better than his old man. 00:10:41.640 --> 00:10:46.820 He even greets them with a kiss. 00:10:46.820 --> 00:10:52.840 There were still some remnants in the church of his age 00:10:52.840 --> 00:10:55.720 of greeting brothers and sisters with a holy kiss. 00:10:57.040 --> 00:10:59.800 But of course, touching a leper in his world, 00:11:00.500 --> 00:11:03.540 kissing a leper in his world, 00:11:03.600 --> 00:11:08.840 was completely foreign and kind of dangerous, to be quite frank. 00:11:08.840 --> 00:11:13.460 His father is more and more incensed. 00:11:14.440 --> 00:11:15.379 Perhaps in a sense, 00:11:16.840 --> 00:11:19.360 serving the lepers, serving the poor, 00:11:19.440 --> 00:11:22.460 is another way of pushing his father away, 00:11:23.120 --> 00:11:24.440 squandering his wealth. 00:11:24.920 --> 00:11:27.600 Once he squandered his wealth as a young man 00:11:27.600 --> 00:11:33.160 on fine clothes and eating and drinking to excess, 00:11:33.759 --> 00:11:35.160 perhaps now it's just a different way 00:11:35.159 --> 00:11:39.439 of poking his father in the eye, as it were. 00:11:39.959 --> 00:11:43.019 His father's increasingly angry at him. 00:11:44.259 --> 00:11:47.319 He hears in a nearby church 00:11:47.319 --> 00:11:51.279 a sermon from Matthew chapter 10. 00:11:53.199 --> 00:11:54.959 This was, in a sense, 00:11:55.399 --> 00:12:00.740 a much more powerful reorientation of his life. 00:12:01.299 --> 00:12:02.819 You might know Matthew 10, 00:12:02.939 --> 00:12:04.220 Jesus giving instructions. 00:12:04.220 --> 00:12:05.740 He's prayed in Matthew 9, 00:12:06.139 --> 00:12:08.700 pray the Lord of the harvest to raise up workers for the harvest. 00:12:09.000 --> 00:12:09.980 Then in chapter 10, 00:12:10.680 --> 00:12:11.980 Jesus appoints the 12, 00:12:12.680 --> 00:12:15.720 and the 12 then are given some kind of instructions 00:12:15.720 --> 00:12:18.120 on how to do their ministry. 00:12:18.639 --> 00:12:22.060 Don't take any spare shoes for your feet, 00:12:22.360 --> 00:12:23.440 no spare robes, 00:12:24.720 --> 00:12:26.759 ask for a blessing, 00:12:26.899 --> 00:12:29.100 ask for provisions on the road and so on. 00:12:29.100 --> 00:12:37.720 And this sermon radically focuses his mind and his heart. 00:12:38.720 --> 00:12:45.639 He ends up seeing his life as built around Matthew chapter 10, 00:12:46.519 --> 00:12:51.300 which in a sense is to build his life around the words of Jesus. 00:12:51.299 --> 00:12:57.899 It might seem really obvious to us as a Christian, 00:12:58.259 --> 00:13:00.759 you make Jesus a focus. 00:13:00.859 --> 00:13:02.819 I think that's kind of the definition in a way. 00:13:04.000 --> 00:13:09.459 But this was not expected or normal in lots of ways. 00:13:09.460 --> 00:13:10.960 In his church, 00:13:11.480 --> 00:13:14.980 the cues or the pattern of ministry 00:13:14.980 --> 00:13:18.960 was more likely to come from the book of Acts 00:13:18.960 --> 00:13:21.900 than a gospel itself. 00:13:24.420 --> 00:13:27.759 Christ becomes, 00:13:28.240 --> 00:13:32.180 is a clear focus for his ministry. 00:13:32.179 --> 00:13:35.000 He's kind of a fundamentalist though. 00:13:35.859 --> 00:13:36.319 That is, 00:13:36.519 --> 00:13:36.919 he's saying, 00:13:37.000 --> 00:13:37.079 well, 00:13:37.079 --> 00:13:37.759 Jesus says, 00:13:38.179 --> 00:13:39.399 don't take a second pair of shoes. 00:13:39.559 --> 00:13:39.759 So, 00:13:40.379 --> 00:13:41.599 don't take a second pair of shoes. 00:13:42.179 --> 00:13:43.059 Jesus is saying, 00:13:43.419 --> 00:13:44.599 take no money for the road. 00:13:44.739 --> 00:13:44.959 Well, 00:13:45.039 --> 00:13:45.239 okay, 00:13:45.359 --> 00:13:46.559 won't take any money for the road. 00:13:47.679 --> 00:13:47.959 He, 00:13:47.959 --> 00:13:51.159 he takes the detail of Matthew 10, 00:13:51.659 --> 00:13:52.519 hyper, 00:13:53.039 --> 00:13:54.179 literally. 00:13:55.599 --> 00:13:57.000 Except the verse that says, 00:13:57.539 --> 00:13:59.519 do not go to the Samaritans, 00:13:59.599 --> 00:14:00.219 just go to the house, 00:14:00.559 --> 00:14:01.599 do not go to the Gentiles, 00:14:01.600 --> 00:14:03.680 just go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. 00:14:03.800 --> 00:14:04.259 There weren't many, 00:14:04.340 --> 00:14:05.720 too many Jews for him to go to. 00:14:05.940 --> 00:14:07.399 So he did go to Gentiles, 00:14:07.480 --> 00:14:07.620 right? 00:14:07.680 --> 00:14:08.180 Those are the main, 00:14:08.300 --> 00:14:09.180 mainly the people he met. 00:14:09.420 --> 00:14:10.800 But apart from that slight, 00:14:10.800 --> 00:14:11.360 um, 00:14:12.159 --> 00:14:12.360 uh, 00:14:12.779 --> 00:14:13.360 uh, 00:14:13.659 --> 00:14:14.519 challenge, 00:14:15.159 --> 00:14:21.420 he wanted to model Christ intimately. 00:14:23.580 --> 00:14:24.019 Well, 00:14:24.060 --> 00:14:27.519 now this is all too much for his father. 00:14:28.980 --> 00:14:29.379 Uh, 00:14:29.379 --> 00:14:29.879 uh, 00:14:30.620 --> 00:14:32.480 Francis wants to give money now, 00:14:32.620 --> 00:14:35.439 not just help building with stones, 00:14:35.439 --> 00:14:37.200 but wants to give money to a local church. 00:14:37.259 --> 00:14:39.840 His father finds out is absolutely furious. 00:14:40.000 --> 00:14:45.759 So Francis hides in a cave for a month to keep out of his father's way. 00:14:45.759 --> 00:14:46.759 Uh, 00:14:46.759 --> 00:14:47.819 uh, 00:14:47.819 --> 00:14:49.620 he finally comes out of the cave. 00:14:49.740 --> 00:14:50.720 His father finds him. 00:14:50.759 --> 00:14:53.460 He's so furious that his father puts him in the, 00:14:53.460 --> 00:14:54.740 the, 00:14:54.819 --> 00:14:56.279 the dungeon they have in their home. 00:14:56.319 --> 00:14:57.360 I presume it's a basement, 00:14:57.580 --> 00:14:58.480 a cellar, 00:14:58.480 --> 00:15:00.960 but his father locks him up, 00:15:00.960 --> 00:15:03.120 which if this is, 00:15:03.179 --> 00:15:05.039 if this is kind of, 00:15:05.039 --> 00:15:05.340 uh, 00:15:05.340 --> 00:15:06.419 par for the course, 00:15:06.419 --> 00:15:09.899 then he probably had reason not to be really close to his father. 00:15:09.899 --> 00:15:10.879 If he was that cruel, 00:15:10.879 --> 00:15:11.200 right? 00:15:11.200 --> 00:15:11.640 Uh, 00:15:12.280 --> 00:15:14.440 his father goes away on business again and, 00:15:14.440 --> 00:15:15.180 uh, 00:15:15.259 --> 00:15:18.100 Francis' mother lets him out of the dungeon. 00:15:18.800 --> 00:15:19.120 Um, 00:15:19.300 --> 00:15:23.240 probably now you can say the relationship with his father is pretty well over. 00:15:24.240 --> 00:15:25.580 The father is furious. 00:15:25.700 --> 00:15:26.879 He's been out of the dungeon. 00:15:26.879 --> 00:15:31.120 And so Francis heads to the bishop, 00:15:31.639 --> 00:15:32.639 the bishop's palace, 00:15:32.759 --> 00:15:35.439 the Bishop of Assisi to receive protection. 00:15:36.500 --> 00:15:37.340 No one could, 00:15:37.340 --> 00:15:38.299 uh, 00:15:39.299 --> 00:15:39.340 uh, 00:15:39.340 --> 00:15:40.820 you could perhaps find him there, 00:15:40.820 --> 00:15:45.419 but you couldn't exercise any judicial proceedings while they're in the bishop's palace. 00:15:45.419 --> 00:15:49.179 That fell down the canon law and not under secular law. 00:15:49.179 --> 00:15:50.179 Uh, 00:15:51.039 --> 00:15:55.600 the father confronts the bishop and Francis at the doorway. 00:15:55.600 --> 00:16:00.060 And the legend goes that Francis removed all his clothes, 00:16:00.180 --> 00:16:08.399 still wearing kind of semi-decent materials and throws them at the feet of his father, 00:16:08.399 --> 00:16:09.279 as if to say, 00:16:09.399 --> 00:16:10.540 I'm done with you. 00:16:11.980 --> 00:16:12.620 Uh, 00:16:12.620 --> 00:16:13.180 the bishop, 00:16:13.259 --> 00:16:14.300 a little bit embarrassed at this point, 00:16:14.379 --> 00:16:16.259 offers him some rags, 00:16:16.440 --> 00:16:18.159 which he then puts on. 00:16:19.960 --> 00:16:20.500 Francis, 00:16:21.340 --> 00:16:22.460 in one sense, 00:16:22.960 --> 00:16:24.960 was not a revolutionary. 00:16:25.600 --> 00:16:30.500 He sought protection in the Roman church of his day. 00:16:31.279 --> 00:16:31.740 He, 00:16:31.879 --> 00:16:34.000 he saw its compromise, 00:16:34.120 --> 00:16:34.500 if you will. 00:16:34.560 --> 00:16:35.200 He saw it, 00:16:35.500 --> 00:16:36.120 uh, 00:16:36.220 --> 00:16:36.440 the, 00:16:36.500 --> 00:16:39.680 the way it prized wealth and power, 00:16:39.680 --> 00:16:43.480 but somehow that wasn't determinative for him. 00:16:44.019 --> 00:16:48.820 He still saw here refuge and safety and, 00:16:48.820 --> 00:16:49.540 uh, 00:16:49.540 --> 00:16:51.700 a place where he could commit his life. 00:16:51.700 --> 00:16:52.140 Uh, 00:16:52.140 --> 00:16:53.160 in a sense, 00:16:53.920 --> 00:16:54.420 uh, 00:16:54.780 --> 00:16:58.840 found personal integration there. 00:16:59.840 --> 00:17:07.440 He found the tensions with his father when he was protected by the church, 00:17:07.440 --> 00:17:08.220 uh, 00:17:08.220 --> 00:17:11.580 kind of a resolution to his emotional restlessness. 00:17:11.579 --> 00:17:14.279 His psychology, 00:17:14.419 --> 00:17:14.720 of course, 00:17:14.720 --> 00:17:16.299 is something we all want to explore. 00:17:16.299 --> 00:17:16.939 Uh, 00:17:16.939 --> 00:17:17.740 of course, 00:17:17.779 --> 00:17:18.939 it's always beyond our reach. 00:17:18.939 --> 00:17:24.740 You can only put together morsels and try and work out what's really going on. 00:17:25.399 --> 00:17:26.559 But suffice to say, 00:17:26.699 --> 00:17:27.059 he, 00:17:27.259 --> 00:17:30.939 he did not see himself as a revolutionary. 00:17:30.940 --> 00:17:34.059 He was wanting to build the church. 00:17:34.940 --> 00:17:37.440 He was one who found protection in the church. 00:17:37.539 --> 00:17:38.299 He was someone who, 00:17:38.380 --> 00:17:43.259 whose restlessness somehow was relieved within the church. 00:17:44.600 --> 00:17:45.740 A couple of years ago, 00:17:45.860 --> 00:17:50.120 I worked at an Anglican church in Assisi. 00:17:50.380 --> 00:17:53.059 There's a service that happens each Sunday. 00:17:53.200 --> 00:17:54.880 They meet in a small medieval chapel, 00:17:55.140 --> 00:17:57.059 which is rented from the, 00:17:57.059 --> 00:17:58.539 the Roman Catholic church. 00:17:58.539 --> 00:17:59.859 Uh, 00:17:59.859 --> 00:18:01.339 it's a very small congregation in the winter. 00:18:01.339 --> 00:18:01.899 In the summer, 00:18:01.980 --> 00:18:04.079 it's full of kind of Swedish youth groups. 00:18:04.079 --> 00:18:06.460 I think you're visiting Assisi to kind of do what they do. 00:18:07.500 --> 00:18:07.859 Uh, 00:18:08.299 --> 00:18:12.639 but part of the deal when you become the chaplain to this church called St. 00:18:12.639 --> 00:18:21.539 Leonard's is that you have to present yourself to the Bishop of Assisi and thank him for the hospitality that the Roman church has given to the Anglican church, 00:18:21.960 --> 00:18:23.240 just hiring one of their buildings. 00:18:24.319 --> 00:18:25.359 So I dutifully, 00:18:25.359 --> 00:18:26.299 uh, 00:18:26.299 --> 00:18:28.859 organized my audience with the Bishop of Assisi. 00:18:28.859 --> 00:18:30.559 He couldn't be there that day. 00:18:30.559 --> 00:18:31.960 So he sent his commissary, 00:18:32.059 --> 00:18:32.619 his assistant, 00:18:32.899 --> 00:18:33.559 that was all fine. 00:18:34.019 --> 00:18:35.940 But his secretary afterwards said, 00:18:36.220 --> 00:18:38.720 we're doing some excavation work. 00:18:39.059 --> 00:18:42.240 I want to show you something that tourists don't get to see. 00:18:42.240 --> 00:18:44.460 So she took me downstairs. 00:18:44.799 --> 00:18:56.180 They've always wondered where it was that Francis's father confronted the Bishop and where Francis threw down his clothes. 00:18:56.180 --> 00:19:07.480 It assumes that there's an outside street where you can have the father outside the door and the Bishop standing at the main entry. 00:19:07.480 --> 00:19:10.819 And that had never been discovered. 00:19:10.819 --> 00:19:11.259 Uh, 00:19:11.259 --> 00:19:21.500 but they've just recently through this excavation work found a medieval street with a great medieval door that they assume was the place where Francis, 00:19:21.500 --> 00:19:22.039 uh, 00:19:22.039 --> 00:19:23.039 finally, 00:19:23.039 --> 00:19:24.319 uh, 00:19:24.319 --> 00:19:28.200 commuted himself to the church or finally renounced his father. 00:19:28.200 --> 00:19:30.200 Uh, 00:19:30.200 --> 00:19:33.319 it was an odd arrangement. 00:19:33.319 --> 00:19:36.019 He was given protection by the church. 00:19:36.299 --> 00:19:38.440 He was allowed to preach, 00:19:38.440 --> 00:19:43.380 but it was illegal for most of Christian history, 00:19:43.380 --> 00:19:46.700 actually for lay people to preach. 00:19:46.700 --> 00:19:50.059 He was a lay person. 00:19:50.059 --> 00:19:50.319 He, 00:19:50.319 --> 00:19:56.000 he might have been a deacon in terms of the ordering of Roman Catholic, 00:19:56.000 --> 00:19:56.819 uh, 00:19:56.819 --> 00:19:57.360 hierarchy, 00:19:57.360 --> 00:20:01.120 but he certainly was not ordained as a priest. 00:20:02.940 --> 00:20:05.819 He turned up at Rome and somehow naively, 00:20:06.220 --> 00:20:10.460 he just kind of had this arranged to get an audience with the Pope. 00:20:10.880 --> 00:20:14.860 And the Pope is a bit ambiguous as to why, 00:20:14.859 --> 00:20:14.939 uh, 00:20:14.939 --> 00:20:20.079 but gave Francis permission to preach as a layman. 00:20:20.079 --> 00:20:21.079 Uh, 00:20:21.079 --> 00:20:24.339 this was kind of the founding of the order, 00:20:24.339 --> 00:20:26.339 though at this stage, 00:20:26.379 --> 00:20:32.099 it seemed more like a gentleman's agreement than a written legal document. 00:20:32.719 --> 00:20:33.779 This was innocent, 00:20:33.899 --> 00:20:34.359 the third, 00:20:34.459 --> 00:20:39.559 the most powerful Pope of the middle ages and probably therefore the most, 00:20:39.559 --> 00:20:42.119 most powerful Pope ever to live. 00:20:42.119 --> 00:20:44.339 uh, 00:20:44.339 --> 00:20:44.899 uh, 00:20:46.159 --> 00:20:51.500 Francis begins an itinerant ministry of preaching. 00:20:52.839 --> 00:20:54.879 He was regarded as a, 00:20:54.979 --> 00:20:56.639 not a stirrer, 00:20:57.099 --> 00:20:58.139 not, 00:20:58.139 --> 00:20:58.539 uh, 00:20:58.599 --> 00:20:59.519 a troublemaker. 00:21:00.059 --> 00:21:03.539 He was regarded as a faithful churchman. 00:21:04.179 --> 00:21:09.139 And he was only allowed to preach official doctrine of the church. 00:21:09.140 --> 00:21:11.580 And he wasn't educated. 00:21:11.580 --> 00:21:15.920 So the only sermon he really had was repent, 00:21:16.620 --> 00:21:18.420 uh, 00:21:18.520 --> 00:21:20.960 for fire and brimstone await you. 00:21:21.120 --> 00:21:21.740 If you do not, 00:21:21.740 --> 00:21:27.400 he had a very narrow range of, 00:21:27.400 --> 00:21:29.240 of certain material. 00:21:29.360 --> 00:21:30.040 Not surprisingly, 00:21:30.220 --> 00:21:32.200 that's itinerants have great sermons, 00:21:32.200 --> 00:21:36.819 but they only have two of them because they travel and they don't have, 00:21:37.000 --> 00:21:37.500 don't, 00:21:37.620 --> 00:21:38.019 uh, 00:21:38.340 --> 00:21:39.880 get the same audience twice. 00:21:41.120 --> 00:21:42.299 It's just interesting. 00:21:42.860 --> 00:21:43.319 Our, 00:21:44.920 --> 00:21:45.440 our, 00:21:45.740 --> 00:21:47.720 the reputation that Francis has, 00:21:47.980 --> 00:21:49.860 you might know the phrase, 00:21:50.180 --> 00:21:50.539 uh, 00:21:51.059 --> 00:21:52.480 preach all the time. 00:21:52.480 --> 00:21:53.360 And if necessary, 00:21:53.360 --> 00:21:54.299 use words, 00:21:54.299 --> 00:21:56.600 which is attributed to some Francis. 00:21:56.599 --> 00:22:01.759 The first time that ever appeared was in the U S in about 1920. 00:22:03.819 --> 00:22:04.059 Uh, 00:22:04.059 --> 00:22:04.659 this is not, 00:22:04.879 --> 00:22:05.299 in fact, 00:22:05.439 --> 00:22:07.319 and it's not that he could have said, 00:22:07.419 --> 00:22:07.659 of course, 00:22:07.699 --> 00:22:08.339 and not written down. 00:22:08.439 --> 00:22:08.899 He wasn't, 00:22:09.000 --> 00:22:09.759 he wasn't literate. 00:22:09.819 --> 00:22:10.740 He didn't write very much. 00:22:10.799 --> 00:22:11.879 Of course he could have said it. 00:22:12.139 --> 00:22:22.519 But when you know that the only reason he's allowed to be an itinerant preacher is because he's a loyal churchman preaching the established doctrine of the church. 00:22:22.519 --> 00:22:28.480 Then you recognize that he was using a lot of words and they mainly were the word repent, 00:22:28.480 --> 00:22:28.559 repent, 00:22:28.559 --> 00:22:36.220 repent and be baptized or repent for the kingdom of God is at hand. 00:22:36.519 --> 00:22:37.180 In fact, 00:22:37.799 --> 00:22:43.960 that's exactly the phrase that Jesus uses both in Matthew four and in Matthew 10, 00:22:43.960 --> 00:22:45.559 when he commissions the 12, 00:22:45.680 --> 00:22:45.900 right? 00:22:45.980 --> 00:22:47.480 He sends them out the same message, 00:22:47.920 --> 00:22:50.859 repent for the kingdom of God is at hand or the kingdom of God is near. 00:22:52.059 --> 00:22:52.279 Uh, 00:22:52.940 --> 00:22:56.759 Francis is probably doing exactly what the Lord Jesus told him to do, 00:22:56.759 --> 00:23:00.480 to preach repentance for the kingdom of God is coming near. 00:23:02.299 --> 00:23:03.879 I'm going to pause then, 00:23:03.940 --> 00:23:08.180 have a sip of my water and see if you have any comments or questions so far. 00:23:08.180 --> 00:23:10.420 Yes. 00:23:10.420 --> 00:23:14.039 I think a comment that it's interesting. 00:23:14.039 --> 00:23:17.920 He would go to the Pope when Assisi was not, 00:23:17.920 --> 00:23:18.539 uh, 00:23:18.920 --> 00:23:23.519 aligned with the Pope and that the Pope would actually even agree to see. 00:23:23.920 --> 00:23:24.320 Yes. 00:23:24.360 --> 00:23:24.740 Thank you. 00:23:24.740 --> 00:23:28.380 So the politics of Assisi, 00:23:28.380 --> 00:23:29.180 you are right, 00:23:29.980 --> 00:23:34.120 lent towards protection from the Holy Roman Emperor, 00:23:34.200 --> 00:23:34.819 the German Emperor, 00:23:34.819 --> 00:23:40.339 but the church was still the church that was under the authority of the, 00:23:40.339 --> 00:23:41.299 of the papacy. 00:23:41.299 --> 00:23:41.899 but you're right. 00:23:41.980 --> 00:23:42.659 It does seem a bit, 00:23:42.720 --> 00:23:42.799 Oh, 00:23:42.799 --> 00:23:43.299 doesn't it? 00:23:43.940 --> 00:23:44.220 Um, 00:23:45.259 --> 00:23:45.859 perhaps, 00:23:46.039 --> 00:23:46.319 you know, 00:23:46.379 --> 00:23:49.379 perhaps if I'm thinking cynically or politically, 00:23:49.579 --> 00:23:50.579 perhaps the Pope is thinking, 00:23:50.579 --> 00:23:53.240 I need a guy like Francis in Assisi. 00:23:53.879 --> 00:24:00.299 I need someone to be my voice or to represent me powerfully in, 00:24:00.359 --> 00:24:01.019 in town. 00:24:01.359 --> 00:24:02.579 Perhaps that was going on as well. 00:24:02.799 --> 00:24:02.980 Yes, 00:24:03.000 --> 00:24:03.159 sir. 00:24:06.740 --> 00:24:07.139 Yes. 00:24:08.980 --> 00:24:09.379 No, 00:24:09.539 --> 00:24:09.919 thank you. 00:24:10.039 --> 00:24:11.839 So Assisi is about 200 kilometers. 00:24:11.960 --> 00:24:13.159 You might have to help me with miles. 00:24:13.720 --> 00:24:13.960 Uh, 00:24:14.019 --> 00:24:16.579 Assisi is about 200 kilometers from Rome. 00:24:16.779 --> 00:24:18.119 So you, 00:24:18.240 --> 00:24:19.179 you're walking it. 00:24:19.180 --> 00:24:21.640 Probably it might take you a few days to walk it. 00:24:21.640 --> 00:24:22.160 Uh, 00:24:22.660 --> 00:24:23.860 you might've written on a donkey, 00:24:24.440 --> 00:24:25.920 but more likely to walk, 00:24:25.980 --> 00:24:26.259 I think. 00:24:26.340 --> 00:24:29.039 So does that mean the lines of communication to, 00:24:29.340 --> 00:24:31.640 between where the Pope was in these, 00:24:31.640 --> 00:24:32.360 uh, 00:24:32.740 --> 00:24:35.600 these various cities was actually fairly open? 00:24:36.460 --> 00:24:38.400 That there was a dialogue going on. 00:24:38.400 --> 00:24:38.660 Yes. 00:24:39.700 --> 00:24:40.140 Yes. 00:24:40.420 --> 00:24:40.580 That's right. 00:24:42.039 --> 00:24:42.519 Yeah. 00:24:42.680 --> 00:24:43.140 So he, 00:24:43.820 --> 00:24:46.160 Francis had a close relationship with the Bishop. 00:24:46.820 --> 00:24:47.220 Uh, 00:24:47.220 --> 00:24:49.620 the Bishop is known by the Pope. 00:24:49.740 --> 00:24:50.000 Of course, 00:24:50.100 --> 00:24:51.420 the Bishop is appointed by the Pope. 00:24:52.480 --> 00:24:53.200 So there's, 00:24:53.259 --> 00:24:53.400 yeah, 00:24:53.500 --> 00:24:55.019 the lines of communication are, 00:24:55.120 --> 00:24:56.380 are quite easy. 00:24:57.039 --> 00:24:57.120 It, 00:24:57.339 --> 00:24:59.519 they might not be quite so easy in, 00:24:59.900 --> 00:25:00.240 you know, 00:25:00.299 --> 00:25:02.539 Northern Germany or Scotland or something, 00:25:02.539 --> 00:25:03.319 but in Assisi, 00:25:03.799 --> 00:25:05.240 a couple of days walk from Rome, 00:25:05.240 --> 00:25:07.059 I think we can be confident of the, 00:25:07.380 --> 00:25:09.140 of open channels of communication. 00:25:09.140 --> 00:25:19.900 Well, 00:25:21.100 --> 00:25:24.320 Francis resolved some of his restlessness, 00:25:24.980 --> 00:25:26.100 uh, 00:25:26.120 --> 00:25:29.259 in being a servant of the church, 00:25:29.380 --> 00:25:31.040 a loyal servant of the church. 00:25:32.480 --> 00:25:33.160 Uh, 00:25:33.340 --> 00:25:38.820 but there was still some deep psychological, 00:25:38.819 --> 00:25:42.539 you might say wounds or tensions, 00:25:43.500 --> 00:25:44.079 issues, 00:25:44.079 --> 00:25:45.939 which were, 00:25:46.240 --> 00:25:47.179 remained unresolved. 00:25:47.279 --> 00:25:48.099 That's not surprising. 00:25:48.220 --> 00:25:51.059 You can be partially healed from PTSD, 00:25:51.299 --> 00:25:51.460 right? 00:25:51.480 --> 00:25:53.299 Or you can be making progress in your healing. 00:25:53.299 --> 00:25:54.419 So, 00:25:54.419 --> 00:25:55.299 uh, 00:25:55.720 --> 00:26:01.519 Francis found great solace in nature amongst animals. 00:26:01.519 --> 00:26:03.339 Uh, 00:26:04.039 --> 00:26:08.220 he might not easily be described as an ecologist. 00:26:09.259 --> 00:26:12.940 He certainly was no vegan or vegetarian. 00:26:13.400 --> 00:26:13.839 Uh, 00:26:13.839 --> 00:26:15.720 he would eat meat, 00:26:15.920 --> 00:26:16.920 certainly, 00:26:16.920 --> 00:26:21.400 but it is also true that he found solace in nature and, 00:26:21.400 --> 00:26:22.240 found, 00:26:22.240 --> 00:26:30.180 found there kind of a deep harmony that city life didn't quite give to him. 00:26:30.180 --> 00:26:34.940 And there are lots of stories of Francis with animals. 00:26:35.940 --> 00:26:42.519 One of my favorite stories is it was winter and the bees in their heart, 00:26:42.820 --> 00:26:47.799 human beings had come along and had taken the honey from a beehive. 00:26:47.799 --> 00:26:49.599 Uh, 00:26:50.480 --> 00:26:51.440 in his world, 00:26:51.539 --> 00:26:55.819 at least Francis thought that bees ate honey. 00:26:56.019 --> 00:26:57.139 That was their food, 00:26:57.339 --> 00:27:00.000 not the bees manufactured honey. 00:27:00.460 --> 00:27:03.480 So he's so distraught that these bees, 00:27:03.480 --> 00:27:04.519 uh, 00:27:04.700 --> 00:27:11.500 are being starved in the winter that he finds some honey and brings it back to the hive to keep them going. 00:27:11.619 --> 00:27:11.799 Right? 00:27:11.799 --> 00:27:11.940 Um, 00:27:11.940 --> 00:27:13.180 Um, 00:27:13.180 --> 00:27:14.120 I like honey, 00:27:14.220 --> 00:27:17.220 but I don't think bees like it in quite the same way as I do. 00:27:18.259 --> 00:27:18.820 Uh, 00:27:18.820 --> 00:27:19.920 there's stories of him, 00:27:19.920 --> 00:27:21.180 uh, 00:27:21.299 --> 00:27:25.400 calming the ravenous attacks of a wolf. 00:27:26.140 --> 00:27:27.900 This is a more famous story, 00:27:27.980 --> 00:27:31.180 but perhaps one that has less attestation. 00:27:31.700 --> 00:27:32.360 A local, 00:27:32.580 --> 00:27:34.059 a local village in Gubio, 00:27:34.059 --> 00:27:34.840 uh, 00:27:34.839 --> 00:27:36.480 was having struggles with a, 00:27:36.480 --> 00:27:36.819 a, 00:27:36.819 --> 00:27:39.539 a wolf that was attacking sheep and attacking people. 00:27:40.099 --> 00:27:43.000 Francis has a stern word with the wolf and the wolf relents. 00:27:43.419 --> 00:27:43.819 Uh, 00:27:43.819 --> 00:27:48.639 the deal is that if the townsfolk give food to the wolf, 00:27:48.839 --> 00:27:52.720 the wolf will no longer take the sheep randomly. 00:27:52.720 --> 00:27:54.519 And the wolf seemed to honor the agreement. 00:27:54.519 --> 00:27:55.359 Um, 00:27:56.759 --> 00:28:02.779 Francis would have apoplexies when he was walking along the path and actually stood on a worm, 00:28:02.779 --> 00:28:06.379 which for some of us is quite a lot of fun, 00:28:06.379 --> 00:28:10.480 but for Francis was like the ultimate kind of sin. 00:28:10.839 --> 00:28:13.319 So there is a sense in which his, 00:28:13.480 --> 00:28:16.460 he finds in nature some, 00:28:16.680 --> 00:28:18.899 some harmony, 00:28:19.160 --> 00:28:20.139 some solace, 00:28:20.759 --> 00:28:21.680 some home. 00:28:21.680 --> 00:28:22.680 Uh, 00:28:24.680 --> 00:28:29.920 the story is also told of Francis preaching to the birds. 00:28:30.259 --> 00:28:30.799 Uh, 00:28:30.799 --> 00:28:32.119 and if you go to Home Depot, 00:28:32.119 --> 00:28:34.240 you'll find plenty of, 00:28:34.240 --> 00:28:34.960 uh, 00:28:34.960 --> 00:28:39.779 Francis statues more often than not with a bird in his hand or a bird in his shoulder. 00:28:39.980 --> 00:28:41.539 This is something uniquely American. 00:28:42.200 --> 00:28:42.500 Uh, 00:28:43.399 --> 00:28:47.899 the equivalent of Home Depot in Australia would never sell a St Francis kind of thing 00:28:48.559 --> 00:28:52.819 and never imagined that you'd sell more if you put a bird on his shoulder. 00:28:52.819 --> 00:28:53.039 But, 00:28:53.039 --> 00:28:54.819 and of course, 00:28:55.159 --> 00:28:55.359 uh, 00:28:55.359 --> 00:28:55.859 the, 00:28:55.859 --> 00:28:56.259 the, 00:28:56.480 --> 00:28:59.200 there is some truth in the idea that Francis, 00:28:59.200 --> 00:29:00.480 uh, 00:29:00.799 --> 00:29:01.519 liked animals, 00:29:01.659 --> 00:29:02.359 liked birds. 00:29:02.359 --> 00:29:11.680 The story is told of him traveling along the path and he saw a flock of birds in the boughs of a tree. 00:29:11.680 --> 00:29:15.120 And he bids them come down. 00:29:15.660 --> 00:29:20.460 They fly from the tree and land around him in the field. 00:29:20.560 --> 00:29:21.660 He walks close to them. 00:29:22.140 --> 00:29:23.740 They don't fly away. 00:29:23.900 --> 00:29:25.960 They don't seem to be shocked by him. 00:29:26.000 --> 00:29:27.039 And he preaches them. 00:29:27.320 --> 00:29:29.120 He preaches to them a sermon on repentance, 00:29:29.840 --> 00:29:30.180 of course. 00:29:30.180 --> 00:29:31.900 Um, 00:29:32.940 --> 00:29:39.019 so there's any number of stories about Francis and nature. 00:29:39.019 --> 00:29:39.680 Now, 00:29:39.720 --> 00:29:42.320 some of them are clearly mythical, 00:29:43.039 --> 00:29:43.420 clearly, 00:29:43.420 --> 00:29:44.140 uh, 00:29:44.440 --> 00:29:49.080 based on pious longings rather than reality. 00:29:49.620 --> 00:29:51.039 But cumulatively, 00:29:51.860 --> 00:29:52.560 probably, 00:29:53.060 --> 00:29:59.180 it says something about his comfort in nature or his retreat to nature or the solace, 00:29:59.180 --> 00:30:00.600 personal, 00:30:01.200 --> 00:30:01.660 uh, 00:30:01.759 --> 00:30:03.960 psychological that he finds in nature. 00:30:06.799 --> 00:30:07.700 But he, 00:30:07.700 --> 00:30:10.880 he didn't remain a solitary figure. 00:30:11.480 --> 00:30:12.080 Uh, 00:30:12.080 --> 00:30:12.759 he was, 00:30:13.380 --> 00:30:14.740 by all accounts, 00:30:14.860 --> 00:30:16.640 very charismatic personality, 00:30:17.039 --> 00:30:17.980 handsome man, 00:30:18.500 --> 00:30:20.900 though emaciated as the years went on. 00:30:21.460 --> 00:30:29.160 And he almost accidentally gathers around himself a group of brothers. 00:30:29.180 --> 00:30:32.440 A group of friends who together, 00:30:32.440 --> 00:30:33.860 uh, 00:30:34.460 --> 00:30:36.320 commit themselves to the life, 00:30:36.860 --> 00:30:37.000 the, 00:30:37.000 --> 00:30:37.360 the, 00:30:37.360 --> 00:30:37.600 the, 00:30:37.600 --> 00:30:37.880 the, 00:30:37.880 --> 00:30:39.500 the poverty, 00:30:39.660 --> 00:30:40.100 chastity, 00:30:40.100 --> 00:30:41.820 and obedience. 00:30:42.299 --> 00:30:43.180 Uh, 00:30:44.759 --> 00:30:46.820 if you meet a Franciscan today, 00:30:46.940 --> 00:30:49.460 they'll be wearing a brown habit, 00:30:49.600 --> 00:30:50.400 a brown cloak, 00:30:50.539 --> 00:30:52.240 a belt with three knots. 00:30:52.240 --> 00:30:54.900 The three knots remind them of those three vows. 00:30:56.900 --> 00:31:00.559 The brothers formed not a monastery, 00:31:00.740 --> 00:31:00.940 right? 00:31:01.059 --> 00:31:02.099 In a monastery, 00:31:02.099 --> 00:31:04.920 you live in some sense, 00:31:04.960 --> 00:31:06.299 a secluded life. 00:31:07.240 --> 00:31:08.940 You're in some sense, 00:31:08.940 --> 00:31:12.039 creating an alternative community in the farm, 00:31:12.180 --> 00:31:12.720 or you're, 00:31:12.720 --> 00:31:13.440 uh, 00:31:13.440 --> 00:31:15.019 committing yourself only to pray. 00:31:15.019 --> 00:31:16.779 These weren't monks. 00:31:17.559 --> 00:31:19.119 These were friars. 00:31:19.940 --> 00:31:21.160 Friars are different. 00:31:21.980 --> 00:31:25.039 Friars were just invented in this century or, 00:31:25.039 --> 00:31:25.279 or, 00:31:25.279 --> 00:31:26.379 or just a little earlier. 00:31:27.460 --> 00:31:28.079 Friars, 00:31:28.240 --> 00:31:29.579 the word in English, 00:31:29.960 --> 00:31:30.960 comes from, 00:31:30.960 --> 00:31:31.839 uh, 00:31:31.839 --> 00:31:32.180 Latin, 00:31:32.339 --> 00:31:32.660 presumably, 00:31:32.799 --> 00:31:34.400 or Italian word meaning brother. 00:31:34.639 --> 00:31:35.799 If you know any French, 00:31:36.019 --> 00:31:36.379 frire, 00:31:36.779 --> 00:31:37.420 is the, 00:31:37.480 --> 00:31:38.539 is the word for brother. 00:31:38.680 --> 00:31:39.559 These are just the brothers. 00:31:39.559 --> 00:31:42.440 And they have a common task. 00:31:42.940 --> 00:31:43.619 They travel, 00:31:43.619 --> 00:31:44.679 uh, 00:31:44.740 --> 00:31:45.339 a life, 00:31:45.500 --> 00:31:46.139 uh, 00:31:46.139 --> 00:31:47.859 taking up a life of poverty and, 00:31:47.899 --> 00:31:48.359 uh, 00:31:48.480 --> 00:31:50.119 preach repentance. 00:31:51.119 --> 00:31:55.639 He wasn't real good as a leader of a community. 00:31:56.339 --> 00:32:00.500 He was a very kind of spontaneous man and a very, 00:32:01.119 --> 00:32:01.519 oh, 00:32:01.940 --> 00:32:03.279 impetuous is probably not the right word, 00:32:03.419 --> 00:32:03.599 but, 00:32:03.879 --> 00:32:04.339 um, 00:32:04.980 --> 00:32:05.319 uh, 00:32:05.419 --> 00:32:06.799 instinctual, 00:32:06.799 --> 00:32:09.240 or there's another word I'm looking for that I can't quite find, 00:32:09.559 --> 00:32:12.639 he's doing things not in a premeditated way, 00:32:13.000 --> 00:32:14.819 but more spontaneously. 00:32:15.819 --> 00:32:16.500 Uh, 00:32:16.879 --> 00:32:23.819 so that kind of person might well gather people in because they seem, 00:32:23.819 --> 00:32:24.819 uh, 00:32:25.480 --> 00:32:27.779 kind of have to have a close walk with the Lord or, 00:32:27.879 --> 00:32:30.480 or have a personality that's attractive, 00:32:30.480 --> 00:32:35.039 but they're not often the best people to arrange a community's life. 00:32:35.039 --> 00:32:37.440 That takes a little bit more organization. 00:32:39.559 --> 00:32:44.220 He also gathered around him a group of women. 00:32:44.419 --> 00:32:44.619 Well, 00:32:44.659 --> 00:32:45.980 they didn't really gather around him. 00:32:46.519 --> 00:32:46.779 Uh, 00:32:46.779 --> 00:32:49.099 a woman from the same town, 00:32:49.279 --> 00:32:49.679 Claire, 00:32:49.679 --> 00:32:51.240 uh, 00:32:51.599 --> 00:32:52.779 decided as well, 00:32:52.919 --> 00:32:57.119 she wanted to give up her life of wealth. 00:32:57.259 --> 00:32:58.899 She was of noble birth. 00:32:59.000 --> 00:33:03.220 She wasn't middle-class merchants from middle-class merchants family, 00:33:03.220 --> 00:33:04.220 uh, 00:33:04.220 --> 00:33:13.600 which of course was kind of horrendous to think that this woman who otherwise outside of her family's life would have very little kind of protection, 00:33:13.600 --> 00:33:14.839 or, 00:33:14.839 --> 00:33:15.220 uh, 00:33:15.880 --> 00:33:20.200 there'd be very few structures which would give her security. 00:33:20.200 --> 00:33:20.860 Nonetheless, 00:33:21.860 --> 00:33:23.920 fled her home on Palm Sunday, 00:33:23.920 --> 00:33:25.160 uh, 00:33:25.660 --> 00:33:31.039 took up refuge amongst the brothers in the place where they were living. 00:33:31.500 --> 00:33:33.100 They cut off her hair. 00:33:33.319 --> 00:33:34.700 They tonsied her. 00:33:35.500 --> 00:33:35.680 Uh, 00:33:35.680 --> 00:33:40.039 to cut off your hair was to commit yourself to the life of a community. 00:33:40.980 --> 00:33:41.380 Uh, 00:33:41.380 --> 00:33:44.940 so perhaps for a man that's not quite so radical, 00:33:45.140 --> 00:33:46.120 but for a young woman, 00:33:46.280 --> 00:33:46.960 certainly so. 00:33:47.560 --> 00:33:54.620 There's some question as to what kind of relationship Claire had with Francis or Francis had with Claire. 00:33:54.620 --> 00:33:55.020 Uh, 00:33:56.100 --> 00:33:57.640 there's a movie made, 00:33:58.180 --> 00:33:59.760 I think it's by Zeffirelli in the, 00:33:59.820 --> 00:34:02.460 in the seventies in the kind of height of the flower, 00:34:02.760 --> 00:34:04.400 flower power generation. 00:34:05.160 --> 00:34:05.440 Um, 00:34:05.680 --> 00:34:07.220 and the, 00:34:07.260 --> 00:34:11.180 the movie makes out that Francis and Claire having little kind of nighttime, 00:34:11.660 --> 00:34:12.200 trysts, 00:34:12.260 --> 00:34:12.700 dalliances, 00:34:13.380 --> 00:34:13.760 um, 00:34:13.760 --> 00:34:15.660 and it's all kind of very ungodly. 00:34:16.099 --> 00:34:16.500 Uh, 00:34:16.920 --> 00:34:18.660 that probably sells movies, 00:34:18.660 --> 00:34:26.039 but it's probably not true that she and Francis were lovers. 00:34:26.039 --> 00:34:26.559 Uh, 00:34:27.480 --> 00:34:29.960 but she certainly found as many did, 00:34:30.420 --> 00:34:30.820 uh, 00:34:31.820 --> 00:34:32.539 in Francis, 00:34:32.660 --> 00:34:37.960 a charismatic vision for the way Christians might live with more integrity. 00:34:39.460 --> 00:34:40.680 She in time, 00:34:40.679 --> 00:34:42.879 forms her own community, 00:34:42.879 --> 00:34:43.960 uh, 00:34:44.019 --> 00:34:47.159 there today called the poor Claire's, 00:34:47.839 --> 00:34:48.460 uh, 00:34:48.639 --> 00:34:52.099 and they more likely live, 00:34:52.259 --> 00:34:52.639 sorry, 00:34:52.779 --> 00:34:52.960 in, 00:34:53.119 --> 00:34:54.059 in Francis day, 00:34:54.139 --> 00:34:59.500 they more likely lived in a community where you'd work the fields and, 00:34:59.500 --> 00:35:00.219 uh, 00:35:00.219 --> 00:35:06.199 tend gardens because it was ridiculous for men to be itinerant preachers, 00:35:06.199 --> 00:35:09.179 begging for food and kind of caring for the poor, 00:35:09.619 --> 00:35:09.759 the, 00:35:09.759 --> 00:35:10.399 the lepers. 00:35:10.539 --> 00:35:14.299 It was even more outrageous in his day for a woman to do the same. 00:35:16.379 --> 00:35:19.399 Francis spends the bulk of these years from say, 00:35:19.400 --> 00:35:21.760 1210 to 1220, 00:35:22.440 --> 00:35:23.160 traveling, 00:35:24.059 --> 00:35:24.619 preaching, 00:35:25.460 --> 00:35:25.820 uh, 00:35:25.820 --> 00:35:26.980 mainly in Italy, 00:35:26.980 --> 00:35:28.539 but he did manage to, 00:35:28.539 --> 00:35:28.960 uh, 00:35:28.960 --> 00:35:32.760 travel to Spain to preach as well. 00:35:32.760 --> 00:35:33.200 Uh, 00:35:33.199 --> 00:35:34.239 uh, 00:35:34.439 --> 00:35:35.460 on the way, 00:35:35.579 --> 00:35:39.379 just assuming that people would give him some meat or some bread, 00:35:39.379 --> 00:35:40.219 uh, 00:35:40.219 --> 00:35:40.899 as well as perhaps, 00:35:40.899 --> 00:35:41.599 uh, 00:35:41.599 --> 00:35:45.659 money to use then to care for the poor and the lepers. 00:35:46.500 --> 00:35:49.759 He does this weirdest thing ever in 1219. 00:35:52.119 --> 00:35:57.179 He decides that he's going to travel across the Mediterranean to Egypt. 00:35:57.179 --> 00:35:58.179 Uh, 00:35:58.819 --> 00:36:04.899 the fifth crusade was in full swing and he decides he's going to turn up, 00:36:04.899 --> 00:36:05.779 uh, 00:36:06.239 --> 00:36:08.879 at the palace of the Muslim leader, 00:36:08.879 --> 00:36:09.879 uh, 00:36:10.539 --> 00:36:14.759 Sultan al-Malik al-Kamil and tell him to stop fighting. 00:36:16.339 --> 00:36:16.859 Uh, 00:36:17.579 --> 00:36:20.739 it's kind of naive and outrageous and weird. 00:36:21.099 --> 00:36:26.940 Where did he get this idea that he could stop the Christian armies? 00:36:27.179 --> 00:36:30.879 Fighting against the Muslim armies who'd occupied Jerusalem. 00:36:32.199 --> 00:36:33.039 Uh, 00:36:33.539 --> 00:36:37.359 but through a weird sequence of events, 00:36:37.679 --> 00:36:41.000 he's actually allowed in to see the Sultan. 00:36:42.519 --> 00:36:43.239 Uh, 00:36:43.639 --> 00:36:48.299 perhaps it's because he's such now a weak, 00:36:48.899 --> 00:36:53.339 a physically weak man that the Sultan's guards say, 00:36:53.440 --> 00:36:53.579 well, 00:36:53.779 --> 00:36:54.039 he, 00:36:54.159 --> 00:36:54.500 you know, 00:36:54.819 --> 00:36:55.059 he, 00:36:55.059 --> 00:36:57.139 he cries when he steps on a worm, 00:36:57.179 --> 00:36:59.419 he's not going to do anything bad to the Sultan. 00:36:59.899 --> 00:37:01.119 He's so frail. 00:37:02.039 --> 00:37:08.379 Perhaps the Sultan thought he was the messenger offering peace from the Christian armies. 00:37:08.539 --> 00:37:11.579 That's perhaps another reason some give for, 00:37:11.579 --> 00:37:12.179 uh, 00:37:13.339 --> 00:37:16.119 his being welcomed into the Sultan's palace, 00:37:16.239 --> 00:37:16.500 whatever, 00:37:16.759 --> 00:37:19.139 whatever the reason he's welcomed in. 00:37:19.139 --> 00:37:21.199 And you can imagine what Francis does. 00:37:21.199 --> 00:37:23.500 He preaches repentance to the Sultan. 00:37:23.940 --> 00:37:25.799 Not that the Sultan understood middle, 00:37:25.799 --> 00:37:26.639 middle Italian, 00:37:26.839 --> 00:37:27.019 right? 00:37:27.960 --> 00:37:28.159 Um, 00:37:28.159 --> 00:37:28.659 um, 00:37:28.659 --> 00:37:30.719 the Sultan responded in Arabic as you do, 00:37:30.719 --> 00:37:31.739 as your mother tongue. 00:37:32.159 --> 00:37:32.299 Um, 00:37:32.299 --> 00:37:34.879 Francis was quite happy with the sermon he delivered, 00:37:34.879 --> 00:37:35.819 um, 00:37:35.820 --> 00:37:39.640 and was quite persuaded that the Sultan had decided to become a Christian. 00:37:39.640 --> 00:37:40.519 Uh, 00:37:40.519 --> 00:37:41.680 uh, 00:37:42.039 --> 00:37:45.400 apparently the Sultan does ask a question, 00:37:45.800 --> 00:37:46.840 something like, 00:37:46.840 --> 00:37:47.920 uh, 00:37:48.160 --> 00:37:50.920 which God is then the true God? 00:37:51.580 --> 00:37:52.960 And Francis, 00:37:52.960 --> 00:37:54.100 uh, 00:37:54.099 --> 00:37:54.699 uh, 00:37:54.699 --> 00:37:57.179 I don't know how this is communicated to him, 00:37:57.259 --> 00:38:01.239 but Francis assumes that that's the Sultan's change of mind. 00:38:02.079 --> 00:38:03.679 It could just be the, 00:38:03.679 --> 00:38:04.739 the Sultan, 00:38:05.039 --> 00:38:05.579 uh, 00:38:05.599 --> 00:38:07.279 making fun of Francis. 00:38:07.279 --> 00:38:07.940 Uh, 00:38:07.940 --> 00:38:10.299 why would you think your God is the true God? 00:38:11.059 --> 00:38:12.739 But he came in peace. 00:38:12.739 --> 00:38:15.599 And of all the events in Francis' life, 00:38:15.920 --> 00:38:18.019 this one is the best attested. 00:38:18.679 --> 00:38:19.079 Uh, 00:38:19.639 --> 00:38:20.619 you know, 00:38:20.719 --> 00:38:20.920 the, 00:38:20.960 --> 00:38:21.819 the kind of, 00:38:21.819 --> 00:38:22.219 um, 00:38:23.219 --> 00:38:24.079 deal he did with the, 00:38:24.079 --> 00:38:27.719 the wolf that has no literary kind of foundations, 00:38:27.719 --> 00:38:30.699 but this event has several, 00:38:31.000 --> 00:38:33.719 probably because it's dealing with world leaders, 00:38:34.460 --> 00:38:34.679 right? 00:38:34.719 --> 00:38:41.000 And involves taking a ship and securing the leadership of the order in 00:38:41.000 --> 00:38:41.880 Francis absence. 00:38:41.880 --> 00:38:43.579 So it's quite bizarre. 00:38:43.679 --> 00:38:43.940 In fact, 00:38:44.319 --> 00:38:45.500 still to this day, 00:38:45.500 --> 00:38:46.539 uh, 00:38:46.840 --> 00:38:51.420 many of the holy sites in Israel and the Holy land are in the 00:38:51.420 --> 00:38:53.719 custodia of custody of Francis. 00:38:53.719 --> 00:38:54.559 Franciscans. 00:38:55.399 --> 00:38:57.639 So if you ever visit the Holy land, 00:38:57.639 --> 00:38:59.899 if ever there's peace that we can get back, 00:38:59.899 --> 00:39:00.759 uh, 00:39:00.759 --> 00:39:06.000 you'll find that many of the ancient Christian sites are cared for by 00:39:06.000 --> 00:39:06.679 Franciscans. 00:39:06.679 --> 00:39:13.739 They've maintained a really positive relationship in the eyes of many 00:39:13.739 --> 00:39:14.719 Muslims and, 00:39:14.719 --> 00:39:15.359 and, 00:39:15.359 --> 00:39:15.559 and, 00:39:15.559 --> 00:39:16.779 and or Arabs, 00:39:16.780 --> 00:39:17.640 uh, 00:39:17.640 --> 00:39:18.540 to this day. 00:39:18.540 --> 00:39:18.640 Uh, 00:39:18.640 --> 00:39:19.860 quite, 00:39:19.860 --> 00:39:19.900 quite, 00:39:19.900 --> 00:39:23.580 quite a spectacular outcome of Francis's, 00:39:23.580 --> 00:39:24.420 uh, 00:39:24.840 --> 00:39:26.200 mission to convert, 00:39:26.200 --> 00:39:26.740 uh, 00:39:26.740 --> 00:39:29.760 the Muslim leader in 1219. 00:39:31.200 --> 00:39:36.740 He comes back from his travels and he's lost control of his movement. 00:39:36.739 --> 00:39:38.939 Uh, 00:39:38.939 --> 00:39:44.679 he had never done very well in arranging its common life, 00:39:44.679 --> 00:39:47.099 but now things have got worse. 00:39:47.299 --> 00:39:50.439 He tries to inveigle his way back into leadership. 00:39:51.099 --> 00:39:53.459 The guys who'd been leading in his absence, 00:39:53.819 --> 00:39:54.299 uh, 00:39:54.719 --> 00:39:56.059 gave up their authority, 00:39:56.059 --> 00:39:57.779 but kind of didn't give up their authority. 00:39:58.019 --> 00:39:59.639 He kind of had given up his authority, 00:39:59.639 --> 00:40:01.739 but now didn't really want to give up his authority. 00:40:01.739 --> 00:40:05.500 So the leadership is in quite a mess. 00:40:06.739 --> 00:40:10.739 And the Franciscans then split into two parties, 00:40:11.859 --> 00:40:14.619 even if occasionally they were under the same leader, 00:40:14.920 --> 00:40:17.739 they became two distinct mini orders. 00:40:18.559 --> 00:40:19.079 If you will, 00:40:19.239 --> 00:40:19.799 the spirit, 00:40:19.960 --> 00:40:24.339 spiritual Franciscans and the conventional Franciscans still to this day, 00:40:24.420 --> 00:40:26.879 there are different kinds of Franciscans. 00:40:28.000 --> 00:40:28.679 Uh, 00:40:28.679 --> 00:40:32.000 he's now very severely ill, 00:40:33.119 --> 00:40:33.719 uh, 00:40:34.019 --> 00:40:39.000 though he does preach in a local town named Grecio, 00:40:39.259 --> 00:40:41.319 1223 at Christmas time, 00:40:41.699 --> 00:40:46.719 and decides that one of the best ways of preaching his message of Christmas 00:40:46.719 --> 00:40:51.039 is to gather together some animals, 00:40:51.599 --> 00:40:54.500 a little kind of manger with some hay in it, 00:40:54.839 --> 00:40:55.440 and, 00:40:55.519 --> 00:40:56.319 uh, 00:40:56.399 --> 00:40:58.440 make a nativity scene, 00:40:58.440 --> 00:40:59.179 as it were, 00:40:59.639 --> 00:40:59.840 or, 00:40:59.840 --> 00:41:00.179 or, 00:41:00.179 --> 00:41:02.320 or it's basically a sermon illustration. 00:41:03.139 --> 00:41:05.720 Probably he's walking around pointing to the, 00:41:06.079 --> 00:41:07.119 pointing to the bull, 00:41:07.260 --> 00:41:08.159 pointing to the sheep, 00:41:08.380 --> 00:41:09.380 pointing to the wise men, 00:41:09.460 --> 00:41:10.179 whoever they were. 00:41:11.099 --> 00:41:11.460 Uh, 00:41:11.460 --> 00:41:11.960 uh, 00:41:11.960 --> 00:41:16.139 he invents the nativity scene that you might have in your home or that some 00:41:16.139 --> 00:41:17.179 churches put up, 00:41:17.220 --> 00:41:19.179 or there's often one on the corner of the green as well, 00:41:19.240 --> 00:41:19.579 isn't there? 00:41:20.860 --> 00:41:22.440 It was Francis doing. 00:41:22.559 --> 00:41:28.440 He never put a baby Jesus in the nativity scene because he said the Lord Jesus, 00:41:28.440 --> 00:41:29.039 well, 00:41:29.039 --> 00:41:29.940 in his theology, 00:41:29.940 --> 00:41:30.720 uh, 00:41:30.720 --> 00:41:34.000 appeared in the mass on the altar, 00:41:34.000 --> 00:41:35.220 not in the, 00:41:35.220 --> 00:41:36.000 uh, 00:41:36.000 --> 00:41:37.480 in the figurine. 00:41:37.480 --> 00:41:41.820 His eyesight is deteriorating. 00:41:41.940 --> 00:41:43.519 His physical health is deteriorating, 00:41:43.519 --> 00:41:43.960 uh, 00:41:43.960 --> 00:41:44.539 rapidly. 00:41:45.000 --> 00:41:47.400 He probably has trachoma, 00:41:47.539 --> 00:41:47.920 I think. 00:41:48.000 --> 00:41:51.659 That's how some medical people today describe it. 00:41:51.659 --> 00:41:52.099 But the, 00:41:52.099 --> 00:41:57.500 the way he was advised to deal with this trachoma was to have his eyes or his 00:41:57.500 --> 00:41:59.940 eyelids cauterized or his temples, 00:42:00.679 --> 00:42:01.359 a heat, 00:42:01.839 --> 00:42:02.000 uh, 00:42:02.000 --> 00:42:07.019 hot iron rods applied to his temples to kind of deal with it. 00:42:07.059 --> 00:42:07.559 I don't know. 00:42:07.679 --> 00:42:08.779 I'm saying much about trachoma. 00:42:09.019 --> 00:42:13.960 I can imagine that hot iron rods applied to your temples doesn't do much for 00:42:13.960 --> 00:42:14.219 you. 00:42:15.219 --> 00:42:15.500 Um, 00:42:15.699 --> 00:42:17.000 but he said that, 00:42:17.279 --> 00:42:17.659 uh, 00:42:18.159 --> 00:42:18.539 he, 00:42:18.639 --> 00:42:20.639 he didn't mind the pain in a sense. 00:42:20.639 --> 00:42:24.440 He's imagining that the more pain he feels, 00:42:24.440 --> 00:42:28.599 the closer he is to representing the Lord Jesus in the world. 00:42:30.619 --> 00:42:31.299 He's, 00:42:31.319 --> 00:42:31.759 uh, 00:42:32.059 --> 00:42:33.659 uh, 00:42:34.059 --> 00:42:36.639 almost on his deathbed some months before, 00:42:36.639 --> 00:42:39.000 and he experiences something which, 00:42:39.000 --> 00:42:39.799 uh, 00:42:40.000 --> 00:42:45.139 no record exists of any other human being experiencing the stigmata that 00:42:45.139 --> 00:42:47.960 spontaneously appears on his body. 00:42:47.960 --> 00:42:50.760 five wounds in his wrists, 00:42:50.760 --> 00:42:51.760 in his ankles, 00:42:51.760 --> 00:42:52.340 in his ankles, 00:42:52.340 --> 00:42:53.500 and in his side, 00:42:53.699 --> 00:43:00.920 these five wounds representing the five wounds of Christ on the cross. 00:43:01.760 --> 00:43:02.760 Stigmata, 00:43:02.760 --> 00:43:03.760 uh, 00:43:03.880 --> 00:43:09.179 had occasionally been done by very super zealous Christians. 00:43:09.179 --> 00:43:11.299 They'd kind of, 00:43:11.299 --> 00:43:11.980 uh, 00:43:11.980 --> 00:43:12.480 uh, 00:43:12.480 --> 00:43:12.980 uh, 00:43:12.980 --> 00:43:13.639 abused, 00:43:13.839 --> 00:43:14.239 uh, 00:43:14.239 --> 00:43:19.199 self-harmed and created holes in their wrists or holes in their ankles. 00:43:19.659 --> 00:43:23.539 But this case is not him applying these wounds. 00:43:23.759 --> 00:43:28.279 Somehow he thinks in the appearance of an angel and the appearance of a seraph, 00:43:28.779 --> 00:43:32.019 he is spontaneously given these marks. 00:43:32.019 --> 00:43:35.900 There's a lot of debate about what this really means. 00:43:36.940 --> 00:43:37.119 Uh, 00:43:37.739 --> 00:43:41.420 one person whom I find probably more persuasive, 00:43:41.840 --> 00:43:42.360 uh, 00:43:42.400 --> 00:43:48.840 describes those kind of marks that my mum had before she died where she easily bruised, 00:43:48.840 --> 00:43:52.760 and there appeared very large spots on her, 00:43:53.059 --> 00:43:53.320 uh, 00:43:53.320 --> 00:43:55.480 almost through no pressure at all. 00:43:55.880 --> 00:43:56.720 Perhaps that's, 00:43:57.000 --> 00:43:59.220 there's a remarkable resemblance that there are some, 00:43:59.400 --> 00:44:02.240 some of these bruises in those kind of places. 00:44:02.340 --> 00:44:03.280 We don't really know. 00:44:04.180 --> 00:44:04.420 Uh, 00:44:04.420 --> 00:44:14.099 but Francis interprets it as a reward for his close walk with Christ. 00:44:16.180 --> 00:44:19.099 He is like Christ, 00:44:19.559 --> 00:44:20.840 almost literally, 00:44:21.000 --> 00:44:21.240 physically, 00:44:21.360 --> 00:44:25.180 and he'd had this desire to physically, 00:44:25.400 --> 00:44:29.579 literally be like Christ since his first conversion. 00:44:31.099 --> 00:44:33.019 He dies shortly afterwards. 00:44:33.119 --> 00:44:34.099 His body is hidden. 00:44:34.420 --> 00:44:34.960 Uh, 00:44:34.960 --> 00:44:42.599 between the walls of the church because they were so scared that the soldiers from Perugia would come and take him and make him a tourist attraction. 00:44:43.380 --> 00:44:43.659 Uh, 00:44:43.740 --> 00:44:46.360 so he was buried and until 1818, 00:44:46.360 --> 00:44:48.960 there was no record of where he lay, 00:44:49.079 --> 00:44:51.280 but in some renovations in a church in Assisi, 00:44:51.820 --> 00:44:56.039 his body was discovered pretty confidently him because, 00:44:56.039 --> 00:44:56.880 uh, 00:44:56.880 --> 00:45:02.039 it had been hidden between two walls and there weren't too many people who were hidden between two walls, 00:45:02.119 --> 00:45:02.340 right? 00:45:03.019 --> 00:45:03.340 Uh, 00:45:03.340 --> 00:45:04.880 from so long before. 00:45:05.500 --> 00:45:09.380 He became a saint according to Roman Catholic traditions shortly after his death. 00:45:10.079 --> 00:45:15.120 He's often regarded as the most perfect Christian ever to live. 00:45:15.119 --> 00:45:23.159 I've made a couple of my points at the bottom of the page as I've gone. 00:45:23.159 --> 00:45:25.000 Let me just briefly touch them. 00:45:25.000 --> 00:45:25.440 Uh, 00:45:25.440 --> 00:45:28.860 poverty wasn't as important to him as often assumed. 00:45:28.860 --> 00:45:29.159 Uh, 00:45:29.159 --> 00:45:30.860 more important was preaching repentance. 00:45:30.860 --> 00:45:32.460 Uh, 00:45:32.460 --> 00:45:36.579 he wanted to renew the church. 00:45:36.719 --> 00:45:42.300 He was a revivalist before there were revivalists, if you will, 00:45:42.300 --> 00:45:44.880 but he was not an enthusiast. 00:45:44.960 --> 00:45:45.780 He was a churchman. 00:45:45.780 --> 00:45:48.320 He was a loyal churchman who worked within its bounds. 00:45:48.320 --> 00:45:55.140 He was kind of a fundamentalist using Matthew 10 in a really hyper literal way. 00:45:55.140 --> 00:45:55.640 Uh, 00:45:55.640 --> 00:46:00.320 he would have heard the Bible read in church otherwise, 00:46:00.320 --> 00:46:03.860 but of course he couldn't read very much himself. 00:46:03.860 --> 00:46:04.480 Uh, 00:46:04.480 --> 00:46:07.140 he wasn't really an ecologist. 00:46:07.140 --> 00:46:08.059 Uh, 00:46:08.059 --> 00:46:09.260 people want him to be, 00:46:09.260 --> 00:46:12.680 but that's projecting back from our day. 00:46:12.680 --> 00:46:16.559 But he did enjoy retreat solace in nature. 00:46:16.559 --> 00:46:17.559 Uh, 00:46:17.559 --> 00:46:19.279 surprisingly, 00:46:19.279 --> 00:46:21.320 he used words to preach sermons. 00:46:21.320 --> 00:46:22.320 Uh, 00:46:22.320 --> 00:46:25.099 it's a good model for all of us. 00:46:26.099 --> 00:46:30.079 He was a missionary who wanted to convert Muslims to Christian faith. 00:46:30.759 --> 00:46:31.360 Uh, 00:46:31.360 --> 00:46:33.820 as difficult as that is for some people to hear today, 00:46:33.820 --> 00:46:37.119 his leadership skills were rudimentary. 00:46:37.239 --> 00:46:39.219 He was more of a solo actor really. 00:46:39.980 --> 00:46:42.799 And he's personally at times controlling, 00:46:43.119 --> 00:46:46.199 but he did set something in motion that has, 00:46:46.199 --> 00:46:46.739 uh, 00:46:47.119 --> 00:46:51.899 had quite a significant 800 year impact. 00:46:53.319 --> 00:46:56.779 He's an example of urban spirituality. 00:46:57.599 --> 00:46:58.799 He liked nature, 00:46:58.939 --> 00:47:03.679 but that's because he spent most of his time in cities and you can't raise money 00:47:03.679 --> 00:47:08.460 for the poor or for yourself in your own living unless there's a money 00:47:08.460 --> 00:47:09.119 economy. 00:47:10.179 --> 00:47:10.599 Uh, 00:47:10.599 --> 00:47:13.039 he lived within an early, 00:47:13.599 --> 00:47:14.079 uh, 00:47:14.159 --> 00:47:15.119 late or late medieval, 00:47:15.239 --> 00:47:15.899 early modern, 00:47:16.199 --> 00:47:17.460 capitalist economy. 00:47:17.799 --> 00:47:21.179 He was working at what it means to be a Christian in cities. 00:47:21.179 --> 00:47:21.579 Uh, 00:47:23.699 --> 00:47:24.980 in terms of his ideas, 00:47:24.980 --> 00:47:26.019 if that's your, 00:47:26.019 --> 00:47:26.799 uh, 00:47:26.799 --> 00:47:27.319 passion, 00:47:28.039 --> 00:47:29.460 he would, 00:47:30.179 --> 00:47:33.460 and his followers focus on inductivism and divine freedom. 00:47:33.960 --> 00:47:36.779 The most important thing was the actual objects, 00:47:36.779 --> 00:47:38.179 uh, 00:47:38.179 --> 00:47:39.579 that were in front of you, 00:47:39.579 --> 00:47:39.739 uh, 00:47:39.739 --> 00:47:40.719 that were in front of you, 00:47:40.719 --> 00:47:41.460 not grand theorizing. 00:47:42.960 --> 00:47:44.099 Inductivism is a, 00:47:44.099 --> 00:47:49.019 is the movement in philosophy where you start with the individual object and move out to the general theory. 00:47:49.019 --> 00:47:50.699 Uh, 00:47:50.699 --> 00:47:53.099 his descendants, 00:47:53.319 --> 00:47:56.440 those in his order in the next two or 300 years, 00:47:56.440 --> 00:48:02.039 because of their commitment to the individual case in front of them, 00:48:02.039 --> 00:48:02.820 uh, 00:48:02.820 --> 00:48:12.219 were significant in developing human rights and in the power of human observation to understand the world that God had made. 00:48:12.219 --> 00:48:16.059 Well, 00:48:16.099 --> 00:48:16.899 that's been quite a rush. 00:48:16.899 --> 00:48:17.279 Uh, 00:48:17.279 --> 00:48:17.359 uh, 00:48:17.359 --> 00:48:18.679 it's 10 to, 00:48:18.939 --> 00:48:23.519 so we need to break so that folk for children's ministry can set up. 00:48:23.519 --> 00:48:23.759 Um, 00:48:23.760 --> 00:48:24.420 um, 00:48:24.420 --> 00:48:26.480 I'll be here for a few more minutes if you, 00:48:26.600 --> 00:48:28.240 if you have any questions you want to ask. 00:48:28.500 --> 00:48:29.240 Let me pray. 00:48:32.040 --> 00:48:32.560 Uh, 00:48:32.560 --> 00:48:32.760 please, 00:48:32.860 --> 00:48:32.980 Lord, 00:48:33.040 --> 00:48:33.540 may we, 00:48:33.900 --> 00:48:34.300 uh, 00:48:34.720 --> 00:48:36.420 know how to manage, 00:48:36.500 --> 00:48:41.900 how to handle stories of Christian lives that are so different from ours. 00:48:43.560 --> 00:48:47.720 Would we be able to seek out wisdom from, 00:48:48.220 --> 00:48:49.300 not just from them, 00:48:49.440 --> 00:48:51.540 but from the way they think about the scriptures, 00:48:51.740 --> 00:48:52.980 the way they obey the scriptures, 00:48:52.980 --> 00:48:55.400 the way they understand the scriptures. 00:48:56.820 --> 00:49:04.019 And may we in our own day make an impact beyond all our imagining for the sake of Christ. 00:49:04.659 --> 00:49:05.960 In whose name we pray. 00:49:06.679 --> 00:49:07.159 Amen. 00:49:14.480 --> 00:49:15.079 Thank you, 00:49:15.139 --> 00:49:15.340 Todd. 00:49:15.340 --> 00:49:15.440 Thank you. 00:49:16.340 --> 00:49:16.920 Yeah. 00:49:16.920 --> 00:49:17.340 sort of. 00:49:21.280 --> 00:49:23.300 Thank you. 00:49:23.300 --> 00:49:23.360 Thank you. 00:49:23.360 --> 00:49:23.860 Thank you. 00:49:23.860 --> 00:49:23.940 Alright. 00:49:25.119 --> 00:49:25.220 Uh... 00:49:25.220 --> 00:49:25.639 Thanks. 00:49:25.900 --> 00:49:26.320 Have a great question. 00:49:28.420 --> 00:49:28.840 Do you have a great máfrax? 00:49:31.220 --> 00:49:32.320 Uh... 00:49:32.320 --> 00:49:33.500 Did you have a famous four? 00:49:33.500 --> 00:49:34.200 Uh... 00:49:34.800 --> 00:49:35.659 That's a good idea. 00:49:35.659 --> 00:49:36.200 Uh, 00:49:36.320 --> 00:49:37.320 uh... 00:49:37.519 --> 00:49:38.300 of... 00:49:38.300 --> 00:49:38.980 from the Ursumi. 00:49:38.980 --> 00:49:40.079 uh... 00:49:40.079 --> 00:49:40.400 . 00:49:40.400 --> 00:49:41.099 Dis...