Tuesday, March 03, 2009

A Lenten Reflection... Which Francis?

"Lighten up, Francis..."

When it's so obvious that we are called to be like this one...

Francis of Assisi (from The Flowers of St. Francis - 1950)



...why is it so much easier to behave like this one?

Francis Sawyer (from Stripes- 1981)



Well, the example of "Pyscho" Francis Sawyer may be somewhat of an exaggeration on this particular point, and the scene from Stripes was pretty funny in its own way, but it is also a societal indictment. "I, me, mine..." The chickens hatched out of of all this bitter and belligerent selfishness are coming home to roost.

Why are we the way we are? Makes me wonder if the Calvinists and other hyper-Augustinian types have a point in standing so self-convicted by Romans 7 as their byword.

2 comments:

cowboyangel said...

Am I going crazy or did this post appear before and then show up again today?

I'm assuming the first clip is from Rossellini's film? I've never seen that - need to do so.

Never saw Stripes either for that matter.

"bitter and belligerent selfishness"

Yeah... We've been pretty selfish and self-centered as a country, I think. Definitely belligerent. And maybe bitter because we can't keep going west? No more frontier to exploit? Hit the Pacific coast and realized we had to deal with ourselves. Couldn't just destroy an area and move on anymore. I don't know.

I still think it comes from the weather in England and northern Europe. Stay inside, guard your stuff, don't talk to strangers.

Jeff said...

Hey, William

I had it up very, very briefly before. I'm surprised you saw it. I couldn't decide if it was just stupid or not, or if people would take it the wrong way.

Yes, that first clip was from Rossellini's film. I wish I knew more about him. I think I saw this movie when I was a kid, but I can't remember much about it. I liked the lighting in that scene.

As far as Stripes is concerned, you didn't miss much. A few chuckles here and there. Typical Murray-Ramis farce from the early eighties.