Week 4 Story: Saint Francis the Boaster
There was once a Saint named Saint Francis, and he was known for his unmatched joy. Saint Francis had nothing: no home, no money and no food. Though offered all of these things, he denied each of them in hopes of embodying a life similar to his own master, God.
Saint Francis loved all things, and all things loved him back. He was not only kind to creatures that were not loved by others, but he was also always positive amongst the beggars who could not act in this same way. Saint Francis was a servant of God, and it showed in all of his emotions and actions.
Painting of Saint Francis of Assisi in Mexico. Taken from WikiMedia.
Because of his joy, Saint Francis was offered many gifts. He was able to bring spirits up when they were so low, and people wanted to repay him for his positivity. One day, a wealthy woman came to Saint Francis bearing gifts.
"Take these gifts," the woman said, "you have done so much for me, now I must repay you."
Saint Francis refused, as he had time and time again, for he knew that his joy could not be higher than it already was.
Weeks later, a group of beggars that recently found fortune begged to give Saint Francis some of their winnings. After denying them time and time again, Saint Francis finally agreed to taking some of their money and experience life with monetary wealth.
"I suppose," said Saint Francis, "that I will accept just a small portion of your money. I have never had money before, so I will never know if I don't accept at least once."
Saint Francis used the money to buy himself nice meals and nice clothes. His joy, already so high, was spiked even further. Saint Francis enjoyed these gifts much more than he expected, and he was taken back by how material things made him feel. He feared he would lose his innate joy, but he figured after a life of living in this way, it couldn't be possible.
Weeks passed and Saint Francis' money ran thin. He found himself asking previous offerers for their gifts, and spending money on materialistic things. His joy began to be based on the things he had, rather than his joy being a servant of God. Saint Francis was never able to snap out of his new mindset. The world's materials got to him, and he found himself drowning in this new life. Eventually, Saint Francis' charmed joy was gone. He was no longer happy without things, and he regretted ever accepting a gift in the first place.
Saint Francis was remembered for his selfishness and greediness. He was a beggar that found fortune, and it took away his innate emotions of joy and happiness. Maybe this will show us, too, that materials do not define a joyful life; our mindsets do.
Author's Note:
The original story was about Saint Francis, who was possessed with a "magic charm." This charm was his smile. His smile grew from love, and it embodied all that he did and everyone that he passed. Everything coming from Saint Francis was thought to be good, because of this smile of comfort and generosity. Like many of his peers, Saint Francis was a beggar. He was poor, homeless, ill and often hungry. He had every reason not to smile, but he described that being a servant of God was enough for him to be happy. He had no food, no money, nowhere to sleep, yet he wanted to be poor this way because Christ was poor and he wanted to live just like him. He embodied wisdom in its simplest form, and no one could resist him. Saint Francis was remembered this way. I wondered if Saint Francis had accepted the gifts that were offered to him. He kept wanting to be poor because he knew no better, but what if he went from rags to riches? Would he continue being happy and modest, or would he then boast and become unhappy?
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Demery, I really enjoyed the twist you put on the this classical story that is known by many people. Wow, It is really awesome how you incorporated materialistic things into this story. I feel like this could also relate to today's world, maybe that is what you were going for! It is so easy to get lost in clothes and technology such as buying a new phone even if your phone is still working right. I feel like Saint Francis got lost in all of the materialistic stuff just as many people do in todays society. I wonder if he realized that he was changing his reputation and what he was known for when we started caring more about materialistic things than other things? That is something to think about. I feel like it is hard to realize when you are changing for the worse! Also, what if he realized it and then changed his ways back to the way they used to be. That would have been pretty cool as well. Overall, really great story. It got me to thinking if I am too invested into materialistic things!
ReplyDeleteDemery,
ReplyDeleteGreat job! You did a great job describing Saint Francis's character both before he became obsessed with materialistic things and after. I like the twist that you put on the story as well. As I was reading, I wondered if the original story had him falling in to the pit of the material world, or if you added that in. I see now that it was your own personal twist! Is he ever able to bounce back from this love for material things?
Nice work!
Demery, this was such an interesting take on the life of Saint Francis! I really enjoyed how you were able to invert how people traditionally view saints by having him turn away from his life of poverty and towards materialism without actually sacrificing the moral of the story. I was sad when I saw that he was never able to change, though. I wonder, since he regretted accepting a gift in the first place, if he could have been capable of returning to his previous simple life had he had enough time. I was also thinking what if you added more detail about how he got caught up in the material world? Right now you just say he bought nice food and clothes, but I think that more info about his materialism, or what about it really ensnared him, could enrich our picture of what Francis was like. Maybe he had a particular vice, some material thing he just couldn't seem to let go of?
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