The Journey and the Dream is a 1972 book that details the life of St. Francis of Assisi. The Journey and the Dream should appeal to everyone because this great man struggled to live the Gospel. We all struggle, so it is nice to learn that someone so noteworthy struggled as well. Francis: The Journey and the Dream is more than fifty years old, but it is highly readable and well-written by the author, Father Murray Bodo. It is relatively short at 168 pages and pocket-sized. This book contains poetry written by St. Francis and has become somewhat of a clarion call for Franciscan Priests. Would you find it interesting to learn about a Saint’s struggles?
Summary of Francis: The Journey and The Dream
This book is a classic that tells the life story of the Man of Assisi (an Italian village) simply, lyrically, and faithfully. Francis was born into a wealthy family whose father expected him to take an active leadership role in his family’s silk business. Instead, Francis acted upon intuition and instinct; he transformed prayer and consciousness into loving service to others. The founder of the Order of St. Francis encouraged others to turn inside where the Voice of our dreams speaks and to respond with trust and faith to follow where Spirit leads you.
The author of this book is a Franciscan Priest as well. The book has sold over 200,000 copies. The book offers readers a combination of lyrical prose and brief, absorbing vignettes that inspired hundreds of thousands of people all over the world to contemplate the life of the famous saint and see him in a new way.
The book contains 76 short chapters. The chapters are, on average, two or three pages. The book also contains many pictures, which seem to have been drawn by the author. Interestingly, the author points out that Saint Francis died at only forty-five years old. That insight is in the last chapter. It is also interesting that Francis had a friend, a fellow friar named Giles, that he called a knight of the round table.
A Poem by Saint Francis
It might be interesting to read an original poem from a Catholic Saint. This is how the book, Francis: The Journey and the Dream, ends, and it is about journeys.
Both are important,
The Journey and the Dream,
The coming out and the entering in.
Without the Journey
The Dream is a futile entering into yourself
Where you ride a monotonous wheel
That spins around you alone.
With the Journey
The entering is itself a Journey
That does not end inside you
But passes through the self and
On the other side of you
Where do you ride the wheel
You found it inside.
To remain inside too long
Makes the Journey a fairytale Odyssey
And the Dream becomes an illusion.
The wheel must spin on the real road
Where your Dream leads you.
To remain on the road too long
Dim the Dream until you no longer see it
And the road replaces the Dream.
The Journey and the Dream
Is one balanced act of love
And both are realized
Outside the mind.
Conclusion
Francis: The Journey and the Dream is an interesting book to read because it is the inspirational story about how a man of God struggled with the Gospel for his entire life. It is little wonder the book was and is so popular. The book is recommended as many people have read it, so you should as well. It does not matter whether you are Catholic, you will find vale in the short, readable, volume.
