Dear Westwood Family,

This Saturday is the feast day for St. Francis of Assisi, and this year we celebrate the 800th anniversary of his beautiful poem, one of the oldest existing pieces of religious writing penned in Italian, known as his Canticle of the Creatures. It’s familiar to me because its words were paraphrased for the 20th century hymn, “All Creatures of our God and King.” It sings of kinship with all creation: sun, moon and stars, wind, water, and fire are all named as our siblings.

I’ve been a fan of Francis for many years, since I first found the beautiful prayer known by his name: “Lord, make me an instrument of thy peace,” it begins. 

My delight in Francis, though, just keeps growing: it turns out that Francis had a special love for roadside worms. Thomas of Celano (c. 1185–1265) wrote an account of Francis’ life, and described his commitment to picking up the worms he saw on the road, and relocating them so no one would step on them. For Francis, this compassion was a natural outgrowth of Jesus’ humility, and the words of Psalm 22:6. (“But I am a worm and not human, scorned by others and despised by the people.”)

I frequently struggle with theologies that describe humans as worms; these theologies often focus on our sinful nature, emphasizing how wretched and unworthy we humans are. Coupled with systemic sexism and racism (among other things), I confess I’ve never felt called to emphasize the message that we’re all “worms.” Instead I do, as I’m sure you have heard, like to reaffirm how humankind is created in the very image of God. 

But then comes Francis, drawing from these scriptural words about worm-like humans. Instead of using them as a reminder of our wretchedness, though, he lets them be a call to care for the worms themselves. To take action against their getting trampled.

In our dominant culture of individualism, where our greed and desire for power frequently cause us to trample on all who are poor and powerless, this commitment to the worms seems so incredibly radical. It is for me, today, a call to humility and care: to take my own little life and the power that I have and use it to care for those more vulnerable than me. 

May that kind of love be visible in all that we do.

grace and peace,
Pastor Molly