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Page 5 text:
“
ST. FRANCIS TODAY T HERE is occasion for a rather pathetic humor in the realization that in our age of mental confusion and physical conflict we are strikingly unani¬ mous in the belief that the times are so very, very sorely out of joint. Our mere admittance of the disorder is in itself a good sign, but it certainly is not a corrective. It is obvious to us now that society is humanly sick unto death by reason of man’s foolish credulity in the virtues of baseless phil¬ osophies as much as by his strange reverence for the researches of the sages of Laputa. That trouble evinced itself early in modern history, yet it was not until the last half-century that a patent gullibility persuaded the individual to discuss “organized” religion in the jargon of neurosis and psychosis. Then, contemporaneously, since there was no further need for an outmoded scholastic system of thought, the social whole was presented with a grand and attractive Philosophy of Magnitude by the recent geniuses of the lecture halls. They understood that if man would strengthen his faith in the very empty credo of progressivism, an elaborate doctrine based not on simplicity but on complexity was a requisite. In the light of the new teach¬ ing, the home appeared too insignificant a social factor to continue. As a substitute, the individual was given a complete liberation from the selfish and sordid restraints of traditional belief and society was dazzled by mar¬ vellous theories and gigantic projects. Ah, man was so comfortably pleased! No more disturbing thoughts about that terrible invention, God! Now, in youth, we did not think and were respected as flippant cynics; in adulthood we thought but preferred to be conventional sceptics. So there was a repetition of the age-old story—when the drugged dream is held to be the summum bonum of existence—that man is often lower than the swine. But there is goodness; events are stable; and awakenings occur. That is why today is a tragic fact. We know now that the garden of full earthly happiness is a barren wasteland. The entire social structure toppled because the material props of stupendous undertakings were pitifully inadequate in the strain of a new economic crisis. The individual is hurt in his sudden understanding of the law which associates living with suffering. That prin¬ ciple, so hard to learn, is as eternal as the parallel between self-abnegation and happiness, the sob and the smile, the lonely wail of the Crucified and the glad cry of the Child. We had forgotten that in an orgy of pride. Yet the most appalling aspect of the humiliating failure was the terrible thought that even God, so recently forgotten, would not aid us. Fortunately, we have learned a lesson and have definitely decided that present disillusionment will serve as the father of future carefulness. But we are left so badly hurt and bewildered that we will plunge civilization into utter chaos unless we
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Page 6 text:
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accept the guidance of some strongly directive force. Naturally, there will be experiments and mistakes, but by a system of trial and mistake, it appears that we shall attain a working plan based on fidelity to fact. It is most interesting to note this reaching forth for better things in the gropings of modern writings. As a barometer of thought, contemporary liter¬ ature is curiously diverse and certainly at extreme cross-purposes. Yet even the occasional reader is forced t o recognize the odd fact that an increasing importance of treatment and position is given to the person of a gentle bird- lover who, some seven centuries ago, prayed on the brown slopes of the Um¬ brian hills. In view of this distinctive trend of thought, does it not seem that society is more interested in the arriving at stability through simplicity rather than through complexity? For Francis Bernadone was essentially a simple man whose life teaches a lesson, not of idealism and systemology, but of an Ideal. Since in their choice of Saint Francis as a poetic or romantic figure modern writers are inspired by reasons as varied as those which motivate our active social workers, it is significant that he has not been chosen as the naughty subject of the scurrilous “debunkers”: neither has he been considered a worth¬ while biological specimen for the biographers who so ingeniously attribute all the intricacies of human nature to chemical secretions and mental complexes —and this during a period when the$e groups dominate the field of literary biography. It must be that St. Francis is far too simple for such an approach. To the great majority of authors, he is a symbol of escapism—a synonym for birds, clouds, trees and sky—a glorified naturalist. As such he is not at all repellent; rather is he a “nice” person and the accident of his religious views matters not at all. Perhaps you remember Armel O’Connor’s evaluation of this pollyanna element in appreciation of the saint: A Lady in the latest gown Speaks to me thus in London Town: “Of all the saints that really were y 1 almost think that I prefer Francesco of Assisi. He Seems absolutely sweet to me” 1 hen to her looking glass she goes And puts fresh powder on her nose. Well, well ... we are so glad that she is pleased. One can imagine the little brown company rocking with charitable glee had the sweet Lady of the Portiuncula whispered to them that they were to be known as “cute.” Still I am fairly sure that the mean looking mendicant must enjoy his new role of boudoir adornment even though the poet rather touchingly concludes.
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