By Wendy Murray Dear Friends and Readers, I have been on hiatus from posting and it has been time well spent, though I apologize for the prolonged and unexplained absence from Poets & Lunatics. In the upcoming year I will be writing, as I have tried to in the past, about issues that highlight the complicated humanness with which we tangle while at the same time trying to remain people of authentic faith. I have spent these months in transition,... Read more
Saint Francis of Assisi died 787 years ago today, and yet he seems more alive than ever despite the passage of time. In the Catholic tradition, this anniversary marks the “Feast Day of St. Francis.” Remembering the champions who have gone before seems an appropriate tradition and one which Protestants lose out on. Francis of Assisi is certainly one whom Christians of all traditions ought to know and celebrate. I lived in Assisi when I wrote my book about St.... Read more
People will judge you, of course. That is my point. Determine in your heart and mind, ahead of time, how this will affect you. Depending upon your moment in life and the circumstances in which you find yourself, others will always take liberties with opinions and conclusions about your situation, your efforts, stratagems, applied logic or whatever else. It is good if you possess the ability to thank them. It is better if, after thanking them, you think about... Read more
Clare of Assisi died 760 years ago tomorrow (August 11, 1253). Yet she remains as much a beacon for women and men of faith today as she did in her own day. For centuries the story of Clare has been interpreted through the life of Saint Francis of Assisi (1182-1226), the one-time playboy who was destined to become Catholicism’s most popular saint. Yet her indomitable faith complements that of her guide and truest love, St. Francis, whom I wrote about... Read more
One of the most confounding and at the same time consoling passages in the New Testament is that of Jesus’ encounter with the woman caught in adultery (John 8:4 to 11). Some scholars assert that this short portion of the gospel of John was not contained in the original text since it is missing from some of the earliest manuscripts. Others demur. Regardless the episode clearly represents and is consistent with everything Jesus did and taught in his earthly ministry. 4... Read more
Only in an airport are human beings compatriots in a netherworld of suspension, neither here nor there. They are on the way. An airport is the in-between space where an eccentric confluence of human specimens are reduced to a common ilk, though traveling methodologies could not be more diverse. I stood in a check-in line recently behind a large woman in a kaleidoscope sarong, her hair braided tightly and effusively about her crown, with painted fingernails grown so long... Read more
The hidden life of Clare of Assisi (119-[something] to 1253) is forever bound to that of Saint Francis of Assisi (1182-1226), though Clare was a force unto herself who cast her own light and left a unique echo. I have already written a book about Francis (A Mended and Broken Heart, 2008, Basic Books) and have now turned my thoughts to Clare–the medieval feminine expression of Francis’ spiritual vision. She has a lot she can teach today’s women because she... Read more
I have had the privilege and shared in the glory of seeing two of my beloved nieces (sisters) get married this past spring, their respective nuptials separated by 9 weeks. (I salute my sister who pulled off these weddings with grace, hilarity and originality.) My gift to them was a letter of “advice,” written at length, over a period of weeks, with much thought and prayer. At first I thought being divorced disqualified me from rendering such advice. When I... Read more
Ah, Spring ~ the season that inevitably, and rightly, hails a punishing schedule of weddings. The season of wedding bells begins with the earth’s pivot at the vernal equinox and does not relent until we turn the clocks back in the fall. It is a glorious explosion of happiness. I feel grateful to see so many young people I love and admire sally forth withal in nuptial optimism. Even so, let us remember the divorced people. Weddings are bruising for... Read more
Many of you are aware that I am a beloved devotee of St. Francis of Assisi and in fact have written a book about him. There is another “St. Francis,” however, who often gets overshadowed by his wildly popular predecessor. I mean St. Francis de Sales (1567 – 1622), a French bishop whose views about “holy imagination” have benefitted those in the literary trade who also happen to possess spiritual sensibilities. (He has been deemed “The Patron Saint of Writers.”)... Read more
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