Reflect
I thought my pilgrimage to Assisi would be aimed toward solitude, silence, and stillness, as I did not know many people on the trip. I sought healing for my burdened heart and assumed this might unfold, if at all, in solitude and private prayer. My pilgrimage had all of these contemplative elements, but I was surprised to find that the healing and peace I found on that trip came through people and conversations with those who, though once strangers, would grow to become dear friends. This is how God works through the power of community and connection, if we’re open to it.
Pray
Was this what Francis did too, perhaps before his conversion, walk these cobblestone streets
joyously, raucously at times, with his friends,
singing and laughing and drinking in all that life had to offer?
Did those wild wandering days, in some way, form his spirituality
centered around relationship and joy?
I went to Assisi longing for peace, craving retreat, solitude, some stillness to process the pain—
what you gave me was people: strangers, soon to become friends, family.
We walked endlessly each night, down alleyways and hillsides;
we climbed Rocca Maggiore, smoked cigars and prayed;
we removed our shoes and sprinted home, yes, home, in the pouring rain.
We found loved ones we’d lost in each other’s eyes; we found you in the hearts
of those we did not know existed merely days before, there in that city of conversion.
Act
Send a message of gratitude today to someone who has impacted your life, and share how God has worked through them to heal your heart in some way.
