Courage to Care: Lessons from Assisi

What happens when we take seriously our sense that there has to be something more to our lives than what we are currently experiencing? Can our dissatisfaction, whether with our personal circumstances or with the world in which we live, become the seed of change and creative possibility?

800 years ago, questions like these supported wounded veteran Francesco Bernardone’s refusal to return to business as usual. Invited to discover the presence of God in the world around him in the most desolate of spaces outside the city walls of Assisi, a leper colony, Francis of Assisi slowly became one of Christianity’s most visionary imitators of Christ. He was soon joined by companions, including his wise and trusted collaborator, Clare. Together their desire to live in gospel simplicity ushered in a revolutionary sensitivity to human possibility, as we learn to collaborate with God and with one another in the making of a world that is home for all.

Originally released as The Tenderness of God: Reclaiming our Humanity, Courage to Care has been updated and enhanced for individuals and communities seeking a process for engaging authentic transformation. Courage to Care explores the gospel model of compassion and solidarity embodied by Francis and Clare of Assisi and, in conversation with insights from contemporary spiritual leaders, offers a path for growth today.

“Gillian T. W. Ahlgren’s moving book, The Tenderness of God, invites all who are searching for meaning and coherence in their lives to undertake a pilgrimage with Francis and Clare of Assisi to discover how a growing realization of the tenderness of God (misericordia) can become the foundation for a new sense of community expressed in the ‘art of accompaniment.’ In dialogue with Pope Francis, the lives and writings of the Franciscan founders reveal how true meaning and joy can be found by sharing our deepest hopes, dreams, and challenges.”  Bernard McGinn | The University of Chicago Divinity School

Gillian T. W. Ahlgren is professor emerita of theology at Xavier University and the author of nine books, including The Tenderness of God: Reclaiming Our Humanity, Palace Within: Entering Teresa of Avila’s Interior Castle, and Faces of Metanoia. Highly regarded as a scholar of the Christian mystical tradition, she is interested in bringing the wisdom of history’s spiritual leaders to bear on the challenges we face today. For more information, please visit www.gillianahlgren.com.