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January 6th, 2003
Santa Cruz, California
Received by F.A.B.
I am here, Francis of Assisi.
I have noted your reading of my life, and I am glad that you have
taken
an interest in what I tried to do on earth. Your age needs to understand
the
simple but powerful message of Jesus.
I know that for you, and probably for so many others, the message
of
poverty which I preached makes no sense. But you have to understand
that it
was our way of countering the wrongs (as we conceived them) of our
time,
much as you have chosen certain actions to do the same for your
time. If you
will try to relate what we represented, to the Gospel, you will
see that we
made a sincere effort to follow in the footsteps of the Master.
In our order on earth, we turned away prospective applicants who
we saw
would be miserable in our way of living. I thus realized that not
everyone
would want to do what we did. But there were many of us who actually
felt
joyful and fulfilled, and they were the ones who represented the
best of our
efforts.
I understand how you demur at the self-imposed hardships we endured,
and
how this does not resonate with your personality. But you must realize
that
what we did sparked a fire in many souls, and thus we were able
to do a
great work for God. You must understand that what is fulfilling
for one
person may be repugnant to another. So, though you are quite sure
that you
will never practice the austerities we practiced, nevertheless it
would be
good for you to try to understand our motives and our efforts -
we were
doing what you are doing: building the church of Christ on earth.
And even
though our method was completely different from yours, there is
still that
kinship of purpose. I do feel that those who will read this message
will
have a better understanding of the validity of our efforts, despite
differences of behavior.
As you have learned, the chief factor in people's behavior, in
relation
to God, is our motives and intentions. And it was the intention
of myself
and my followers to live the Holy Gospel without any worldly desires.
We
actually found great peace and contentment in life - so, you must
understand
that, instead of thinking of how much we lost, it would be good
to realize
how much we gained for our soul. For ours was a soul communion with
God
totally removed from earthly cares. Indeed, our method eliminated
any
worldly considerations. So that when we entered the world of spirits,
we had
no excess baggage, as you say. I will say, though, that I believe
I was
mistaken in punishing my body, as I realize now that this did not
really add
to my spiritual life. But all that is past now, and I live in the
most
glorious place imaginable.
Your reasoning is correct, when you surmised that the blessings
of the
spirit world must have been at first difficult for me to accept,
considering
my vow of poverty. But accept them I have, because these blessings
accurately reflect not crass materialism, but spiritual exaltation.
And so, my friend, you must grow in understanding of your fellowmen,
and
realize that it is our motive which determines how God sees us in
our
journey through life.
I thank you most sincerely for receiving this message. I daresay
it will
do a lot of good.
Sincerely, Francis of Assisi
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