By Br. Coyote Nabhan, OEF
- We welcome you to the Radical Center of Franciscan traditions,
- Where we hope you will join us in the joy of knowing that the Creator
- Is alive and well, in the diversity of humans, creatures and dreams,
- Here on this Earth and in other spiritual realms not of this planet, so WE WISH
- To re-affirm, celebrate and clarify our Orders’s ethical obligations and charisms
- For offering sanctuary and sacred refugia for all who are at risk or dispossessed
- Whether they declare ambiguity in their identities or remain allegiant to one,
- Inviting all genders and genderambiguous individuals to be part of our Order,
- Just as Saint Francis did through his loving friendship with Brother Jacoba,
- Arguably the first known (while others were likely also cryptic)
- Gender-ambiguous individual on the wayward Franciscan path;
- Just as care for the diseased, and dispossessed was a daily task,
- Because Francis knew and deeply loved neuro-divergent individuals
- With mental, emotional or social behaviors who also loved God,
- Just as St. Francis and St. Clare expressed through the care of lepers, the ill
- or impaired through his inclusion of many neuro-divergent individuals
- in his First, Second and Third orders, and in his preaching in the fields,
- Just as they Cared for Creation, for ants on the path, to wolves wishing peace,
- Just as Francis found ways to sustain contemplative practice beyond churches
- Cultivating the First Churches of the Wild in caves on La Verna and Subasio,
- Well before the celebration of the Other-Than-Human World came to him
- In his Canticle of All Creatures, and in his daily worship and pastoral care,
- Just as he himself walked to the Radical Center to bring peace, in a time of war
- Between races, religions, city states and nations as he did when he bridged
- The values and faiths with an Arab Sultan Al-Malik al-Kamil, kin to Salah ad-Din
- in Egypt and with other Muslims on his way to al-Andalus and the Maghreb,
- Just as he cared for immigrants, refugees and broken soldiers while traveling
- Not only across Italy but beyond, finding empathy for those under stress
- And just as he recruited then came to love those of various ethnicities and races,
- Whether educated or of humbler capacities throughout his own lifetime.
- We in our Order do not exclusively regard or reify Francis alone, or with Clare.
- For we are aware that he deferred to the wisdom of many in positions,
- Above, below and to the Far Side of him, laughing at his own foibles
- As frequently as any human can bear to do without also weeping.
- And so we welcome you and any of your charisms- gifts you freely wish to give
- And give away, since for Franciscans, poverty is giving up all the things
- That may trip us up in our Christocentric devotion to God incarnate in all Creation.
This submission captures the OEF values