The Saint Francis Effect
| ican Bullfrog | ||||||||||||||
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 Bullfrog, Rana catesbeiana | ||||||||||||||
| Conservation status | ||||||||||||||
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| Binomial name | ||||||||||||||
| Rana catesbeiana (Shaw, 1802) | ||||||||||||||
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Dubois, 2006 |
I just saved a Bull Frog in the cistern we are restoring in
our 100 year old barn. She is a beautiful creature and has
lived there for for perhaps more than a year. But since we are
about to do some heavy duty construction on the barn's foundation,
I needed to go down through a very narrow hole to retrieve her.
I grabbed her with two hands and looked into her eyes before placing
her in a plastic jar to hand to Tom, my husband, who had created
a large pool for her in the basement.
A Saint Francis moment, indeed.
Saint Francis moments abound here on Blue Heron Farm, which we
call this beautiful place.
We live on the meandering Conestoga River, bringing geese, heron,
ducks and bird life to us in abundance. And Frogs, of course.
We have deer friends who are secure here after our eighteen years
of residency.
One friend in particular is a deep brown color and we plant a tomato
garden for her and her family every year.
She stands and looks at us in the early spring each year as if to say:
Hey! Don't forget to plant my garden!!
Humans are not the most trustworthy species as far as deer are concerned.
The fifth aphorism of Pananjali states: "When a person is steadfast in
his abstention from harming others, then all living creatures will cease
to feel enmity in his presence."
The deer, racoons, geese, frogs and heron all use our property as a refuge.
They know they are safe and we marvel in their company.
Hanging out with these creatures of God-ess reminds me of Saint Francis
and what I call the Saint Francis effect.
My dogs are the recipient of great love in what they teach us in this
life time: unconditional love, forgiveness, and great patience in
the face of human foible.
The greatest book ever written about Saint Francis is called: "God's Pauper:
St. Francis of Assisi" by Nikos Kazantzakis, author of Zorba the Greek.
The book was out of print for many years but then was re-published
in paperback in 1999. I got a copy as soon as I heard about it, circa 2002.
Reading the book transports consciousness to a mystical perspective.
The prologue of the book serves as an example:
"If I have omitted many of Francis's sayings and deeds and if I have
altered others, and added still others which did not take place but
which might have taken place, I have done so not out of ignorance or
impudence or irreverence, but from a need to match the Saint's life
with his myth, bringing that life as fully into accord with its essence
as possible.
"Art has its right, and not only the right but the duty to subject
everything else to its essence. It feeds upon the story, then assimilates
it slowly, cunningly, and turns it into legend.
"While writing this legend which is truer than truth itself, I was overwhelmed
by love, reverence and admiration for Francis, the hero and great martyr.
Often large tears smudged the manuscript; often a hand hovered before me
in the air, a hand with an eternally-renewed wound: someone seemed to have
driven a nail through it, seemed to be driving a nail through it
for all eternity.
"Everywhere about me, as I write, I sensed the Saint's invisible presence;
because for me, Saint Francis is the model of the dutiful man, the man who by
means of ceaseless, supremely cruel struggle, succeeds in fulfilling
our highest obligation, something higher even than morality or
truth or beauty: the obligation to transubstantiate the matter which God
entrusted to us and turn it into spirit." Nikos Kazantzakis
Do we all have this same obligation? to transubstantiate the matter which God
entrusts to us and turn it into spirit?
Only Nikos Kazantzakis could or would ask that question and have us wonder
if we, too, can rise to this test of human potential?
Communing with the animals of Mother Nature these last eighteen years
continues to be a spiritual practice: of being riveted in present moment
reality, of experiencing compassion and love for all creatures great and small,
and in these spaces of infinite awareness, we perceive the fragile preciousness
of this world and beyond.
The Saint Francis statue which beautifies the flower garden is also a reminder
of this fragile balance.
The Bullfrog in her new home typifies many more hours of grace as we care for her.
The dogs know she is here to stay, probably knew this long before I did.
The Saint Francis effect is now clear. All of these years of animal
communication and sharing the land and our home, and reading Nikos Kazantzakis's
words today, has simplified this.
As we look to the Saints and in this case, Saint Francis for guidance, we are
automatically transforming matter into spirit.
God-ess has entrusted this beautiful planet to us, our families, homes, our very lives;
may we care and love and transform all of it and ask the infinite realms, which
surround us at all times, to help us remember their guiding presence and to
learn to access it the moment we ask.
May we know that these wishes are granted ceaselessly.
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Kate Loving Shenk is a writer, healer, musician and the creator
of the e-book called "Transform Your Nursing Career and Discover
Your Calling and Destiny." The book is designed to stimulate
nurses to love their work and to prevent on-the-job-burnout.
Click here to find out how to order the e-book:
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Kate,
What a beautiful, eloquent article. I share that spiritual connection with all creatures. If we are still for just a moment and appreciate their contribution to universe, they will reward us with unspoken peace, tranquility and healing of the heart and mind.
My rescues have taught me countless lessons in love, compassion and letting go. The spiders,lizards,birds and opossums we've set free, down to the the humming birds and woodpeckers that grace our presence have taught me to enjoy a beautiful connection with nature and the true gift of being fully present. This momentary respite of life's sometimes hectic pace is all I need to find peace and balance when it's most needed.
Posted by: Denise | August 22, 2008 at 12:40 PM
Denise-Thank you so much for your kind words.
I love Saint Francis and found an old public domain book circa 1923, which I may taylor to my personal preference.
Should be interesting--all about the miracles that surrounded him every day!!
Posted by: kate loving shenk | August 22, 2008 at 02:43 PM
I had a St Francis Moment a couple of years back ... a sparrow had a mishap one winter's day ... I think it broke its neck ... but it was alive and I made a little bed (shoe box with lots of Kleenex) and tried to make it comfortable ... then it started to snow ... bringing the bird in didn't seem like an option with our two scottie dogs on the scene ... anyway its injury and the weather took their toll and the bird died ... I put it in a closed shoe box and wrote "Little Sparrow" on the lid (inspired by Dolly Parton perhaps?) and planned to take it to one of Toronto's largest cemeteries ... but it was closed ... then I remembered the Catholic cemetery closer to home and was able to place it in a bush beside a large tombstone ... It's Catholic, I told myself ... St Francis would have approved. I still look towards that bush whenever I drive past that cemetery. I made a tile of St Francis talking to three birds but I can't remember if I did that before or after my Moment.
Posted by: David Shaw | August 22, 2008 at 03:43 PM
David-I love that story!! Such a tender moment-turning matter into spirit.
Love,
Kate
Posted by: kate loving shenk | August 22, 2008 at 03:53 PM