Freedom for both Jesus and Francis was purely and simply freedom from the self , which is precisely freedom for the world . In order to be free for a full and authentic life, we must quite simply be free from our smaller selves.

Francis didn’t want his friars to preach salvation as much as he wanted them to be salvation. He wanted them to model and mirror the life of Jesus in the world, with all of the vulnerability that would entail.

Francis and Clare were not so much prophets by what they said as in the radical, system-critiquing way that they lived their lives.

We can neutralize the challenge and promise of Jesus and Francis by elevating them into the realm of sainthood and perfection. Or we can ponder their way of living in the world and attempt to follow them, fools though we would be.