Our church has a bookstore.  It is full of wonder resources for Episcopalians, from Bibles to Books of Common Prayer.  When Mama and I first joined we always called it the gift shop.  Methodists don’t have gift shops, er, bookstores.  We could never leave without her looking at necklaces or knickknacks.  It is a wonderful resource to buy for christenings, Bible studies, etc. and they have beautiful Christmas decorations as well as lovely statuary in the summer months.  The funds generated go to support our church library and staff and also to finance materials to build libraries in Belize, Honduras, and other mission locations.  After church we tend to stop by the gift bookstore.  A few Sundays ago my little one found this fox.  The kid knows I’m a sucker for stuffed animals but the sweetest part is when you press his paw he prays the prayer commonly attributed to St. Francis of Assisi.  Her Godmother had already given her a lamb that says the Lord’s Prayer.  So Ferdinand came home with us that day.  I think the beaming look on her face in this picture speaks for itself.  What a precious idea; something sweet to cuddle that recites a prayer that she will come to memorize.  Brilliant.  I have always loved St. Francis of Assisi.  I suppose the thirteenth century saint is most renowned for preaching a sermon to the birds.  Many do not know about St. Francis and the Wolf of Gubbio.  It was said that there was a wolf who was threatening this village and they called upon St. Francis to help.  St. Francis is said to have spoken with the wolf and soon the villagers began leaving him food.  He became beloved and Gubbio, Italy is on my list of places to see because of that wolf and the compassion St. Francis showed for all living things.  His “Canticle of the Sun” is beautiful.  St. Francis of Assisi founded the Franciscan Order and is the patron saint of animals and the environment.  Even non-Christians have him in their gardens.  Many animal lovers of other Christian denominations bring their four-leggeds to an Episcopal church each October 4 for the much loved “Blessing of the Animals”.  We do not worship the saints but I do believe we should try to emulate them.  I will close with the prayer that is most often associated with St. Francis of Assisi:

“Lord, make me an instrument of Thy peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
Where there is injury, pardon;
Where there is doubt, faith;
Where there is despair, hope;
Where there is darkness, light;
Where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master,
Grant that I may not so much seek
To be consoled as to console;
To be understood, as to understand;
To be loved, as to love.

For it is in giving that we receive;
It is in pardoning, that we are pardoned;
And it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.”  Amen. ~ St. Francis of Assisi