Excerpts from Christian Perfection
Francis was initially an Archbishop in the court Louis XIV (the Sun King) of France. He fell out of favour. He remained highly influential in his generation as a spiritual director.
His basic premise is that we should have an undivided heart toward God which is following the use of the same scripture as last week with "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all you mind all your soul and love your neighbour as yourself." He wants us to puts aside all worldly pursuits for the love of God. He goes to elaborate on the benefits of this lifestyle, but my mind raises all sorts of questions and difficulties I can't answer them and he doesn't try.
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While I see what he is saying as aspirational. It would seem much more difficult with a marriage and a family living in the 21st century then to a monk in the 17th century. I would imagine the push toward having an undivided heart would have seemed simpler than it appears to me right now. I usually love his thoughts on prayer and find them so practical. I find this teaching harder not wrong, just more difficult to apply in my situation.
It is probably more difficult after the last writer Bernard of Clairvaux who reached such a connection with me last week.
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