Disarming of hearts

Gratitude is a spiritual superpower. Words of thanks open the windows of heaven.
- A Wise Woman

"At the height of the Christian Crusades, Francis walked for days and risked his life to cross enemy lines and personally meet with the Sultan of Egypt where he listened — really listened — to the wisdom at the heart of Islam. Both men emerged from that encounter changed. Although Francis was on a mission to convert his opponent to Christianity, and Malik-al-Kamil was committed to opposing the Crusades with all his might, their individual agendas fell away as they sat together. It was Francis’ devotion to his beloved Brother Christ that broke open the sultan’s heart, and it was the unequivocal surrender to the Divine which characterizes Muslim life that reanimated the way Francis approached spiritual practice. Their mutual willingness to be present to the living essence of the other’s faith created an alchemical transmutation that turned the lead of conflict into the gold of love.

Legend tells us that Malik sent Francis home with the gift of an ivory horn the muezzin would sound to call the faithful to prayer, and which Francis used from then on to summon his own people into remembrance of God. This is peacemaking at its best: the disarming of hearts. This is authentic inter-spirituality: a living, life-giving, life-changing encounter with the sacred in another tradition. This is my legacy as a Jewish woman with a Hindu guru, a lifelong Buddhist meditation practice, a close connection with indigenous traditions, and an abiding love of Christ.

And so it is with curiosity and hopefulness that I watch as the new leader of the Roman Catholic Church — one of the most powerful roles on the planet — takes on the name of his humble forebear. Pope Francis is changing the way the world sees an institution that has historically wielded its authority as a weapon. Francis of Assisi was the epitome of non-violence in action. He lived his master’s teachings of identification with those on the margins and celebrated his interconnectedness with all of creation, from Sister Water to Brother Fire, from lepers to kings. I doubt that the pope will ever make his way up the miles of dirt road to my beloved interspiritual mountaintop monastery, Lama. But I like to think that if Saint Francis had known about us he would have felt completely at home there."

- Mirabai Star