Making Peace Within
Isn’t it wonderful news, brothers and sisters, that we come to God not by our perfection, but by our imperfection? That gives all of us an equal chance and utterly levels the human playing field. No pretending or denying is helpful any longer. Deep within each of us live a leper and a wolf, and we are ashamed and afraid of them both. In Franciscan lore, they are our inner imperfections. Francis embraced the leper below Assisi and called that act his conversion. Later, Francis tamed the wolf that was ravaging the countryside of Gubbio. The stories did happen historically, but, first of all, they must have happened in his soul. Our inner life, our emotional life, our prayer life, is where we first do our battles. Then we are prepared for our outer-life conflicts. It is on the inside of us that lepers and wolves first live. If we haven’t been able to kiss many lepers, if we haven’t been able to tame many wolves in the outer world, it’s probably because we haven’t, first of all, made friends with our own leprosy and the ferocious wolf within each of us. They are always there, in some form, waiting to be tamed and needing to be forgiven.
—Richard Rohr, Yes, And…: Daily Meditations
What good news—that we come to God not by perfection, but by imperfection. This truth levels the playing field for all of us, stripping away the need to pretend. Richard Rohr uses the images of the leper and the wolf to describe the parts of ourselves we fear and hide—our weaknesses, wounds, and untamed instincts.
Francis of Assisi’s embrace of the leper and taming of the wolf first happened in his own soul. Our inner battles—learning to forgive ourselves, to face our flaws, and to welcome God’s grace there—prepare us for the challenges we face in the world. The lepers and wolves within us are always present, waiting to be tamed by love and healed by mercy. —DH
—David Hoskins, Founder & Care Guide, Sanctuary Clinics