What it means to be Assisi Minded

What is Assisi Minded?

This blog was born out of our desire to humbly promote a consistent pro-life ethic. We feel strongly that God's call for human kind to care for creation encompasses ALL of creation - from that newly formed child in the womb to the humble bumble bee.

As a family, we are actively involved in both the environmental and pro-life movements. To many, that seems very contradictory, but to us fighting the rise in green house gasses and saying a rosary outside an abortion mill have the same goal in mind - a healthy world that sustains and values life.

To be 'green' or an 'environmentalist' often means to value something other than oneself. That is a noble quality of character, as being 'green' can require a number of sacrifices for the good of our planet. Still, we feel such intentions often spring from disordered thinking. We are frustrated by environmentalists who bemoan the mountain of land-fill destined waste created during a child's first year of life and who see population reduction as the answer to that problem. As if the value of a human life can be measured in trash. We would like to see environmental problems approached from a perspective that respects the dignity of every person, born and unborn. It is easy to do away with our most fragile and vulnerable when they have no voice.

We also want to encourage our friends in the pro-life movement to embrace environmental stewardship. That bumble bee is important. If he's not protected, he can't pollinate the plants that provide the food that sustain us all. We're at the top of the food chain, and that makes us perhaps the most vulnerable of all God's creatures to environmental degradation. Also, as we plan to discuss in this blog, there are many farming and industrial practices common today that not only harm the environment we all share, but that insult our very dignity as human beings. Our biblical call to stewardship over God's creation is important.

Our inspiration for this blog comes from St. Francis of Assisi, the poor 13th century beggar. Few, if any, have lived the Gospel so concretely as St. Francis. In his day, he ministered to lepers and gave sermons to birds. He exemplified what it means to serve all of God's creation. The name Assisi Minded is a reference to the ideal for which we are imperfectly striving. In some small way, we hope to contribute toward what was begun some 700 years ago.

We humbly ask for St. Francis' intercession as we seek to start this conversation.