Life Stories: Towards a Franciscan Renaissance
By Patrick Carolan
Our world is in crisis. We live in a time of conflict and polarization, in the church in its various denominations and in the world at large. We have created economic policies that benefit a tiny minority of super-rich global elites while leaving the rest farther behind to survive on scraps. We spend billions upon billions on bombs and guns, leading to more killing and destruction while ignoring the cry of the poor. Both our political and religious structures are more focused on “isms” like nationalism, racism, shortsighted militarism, sexism, separatism, and individualism rather than what our great mystics and spiritual leaders have taught us about the interconnectedness of all creation.
As Christians, we have created a theology that our entire purpose “here,” on earth, is to get to “there,” heaven. Everything we do, our every action, is important only in so far as it helps us get “there.” This has led to the reality of ecological devastation, economic disparity, and institutional stagnancy within Christianity. There are Christians who are unperturbed by our current crises because they believe we are living in the end times and soon Jesus will return and “make everything right.”
In 1967, cultural historian Lynn White Jr. gave a lecture entitled “The Historical Roots of Our Ecological Crisis.” White argued that the origins of the environmental crisis were not as simple as the proliferation of cars and factories that led to increasingly dangerous amounts of carbon being released into the atmosphere. He unequivocally stated that ecological concerns are, at base, a theological or ideological problem. Thirty-five years ago, Thomas Berry wrote along similar lines in The Dream of the Earth, “The deepest crises experienced by any society are those moments of change when the story becomes inadequate for meeting the survival demands of a present situation.” We have reached that point. We have created a life-story that puts us at the top of the hierarchical pyramid. It is a story centered on individual redemption and salvation, a story where we are all that matters and the rest of creation is only here to help us get “there” and has no intrinsic value of its own. Our story has become one of struggle, anxiety, and despair rather than joy and hope. And we wonder why we live in a time of conflict and polarization—in the various forms of the church and in the world at large.
There seems to be no way out of the mess we have made. Wealthy elites control a larger and larger percentage of power and capital, leaving the poor farther behind to survive on scraps. According to the organization Action Against Hunger, half of children’s fatalities are linked to hunger, which affects 673 million people worldwide. While nations spend billions upon billions building weapons of destruction, the poor go without food. And the problem is not getting better. In the United States, under the direction of President Trump, the Republican-controlled Senate and House passed a budget earlier this year that drastically cut programs caring for the poor and marginalized while giving tax cuts to the wealthy and increasing spending on weapons and bombs.
In addition to the crises of the planet and the poor, we face a crisis of peace. Arrogant nationalism, ignorant racism, shortsighted militarism, and “post-truth” propaganda empower the Putins of the world to bomb innocents into rubble while the National Rifle Associations of the world proliferate guns. In the United States, it seems like there is hardly a week that goes by where there is not a horrific mass shooting of children. As we pump more weapons of increasing kill-power into our societies, as we dump more carbon and other pollutants into our skies and seas, as we redistribute more wealth and power away from the struggling masses and toward the elite upper classes, we create a perfect recipe for misery—for us, for our children, and for generations to come. We hope and pray that the leaders of our faith communities are paying attention to these crises. A few are. But many are obsessed with preserving their power, protecting their privilege, and perpetuating their institutions. They obsess over liturgical gnats while ignoring existential threats, and we ask why younger generations are turning away!
In a world that is experiencing an intersecting crisis of faith, environment, and social justice, we need a paradigm shift towards a more integrated and holistic Christian praxis. We need to come together in a movement that encompasses ecology, nonviolence, economic inclusivity, and interfaith solidarity. Teilhard de Chardin wrote, “Evolve or be annihilated.” He was not just talking about the process of physical evolution; he was also referring to the evolution of our spirituality. As Berry suggested, we need a new story, one that is not focused on separation and individualism but on the unity and interconnectedness of all creation. All of our major religions have a core principle centered on caring for the poor and marginalized. Whether we define it as zakat in Islam, seva in Sikhism, or tzedakah in Judaism, the teaching is a cornerstone of our spiritual life, and is not just encouraged but required of us as an expression of our faith and righteousness.
The new story of our spirituality will not be about us trying to escape to heaven, but rather coming together to create heaven here on earth. While I call it a new story, it is essentially a renewed understanding of the original story that Jesus taught us, and that the 13th-century mystic Saint Francis of Assisi took up in his own way as he embodied the charisms of what would come to be called Franciscan spirituality. If we have any hope of moving forward and creating God’s kingdom of heaven on earth, we must recommit to following this story of gospel simplicity. We need a Franciscan renaissance.
Patrick Carolan is a frequent contributor to Today’s American Catholic. This essay is part of a work in progress on the theme of a “Franciscan renaissance.”