Elizabeth Goudge's biography, My God and My All: The Life of St. Francis of Assisi is a classic now brought back to life by Plough Publishing. Goudge, of course, is most remembered as an English novelist and children's writer. Her Little White Horse was among my favorite stories as a little boy. So I was excited to see this biography of St. Francis come back into print.It takes a novelist's imagination to accomplish what Goudge gave us in My God and My All: She scours the academic writing and the primary sources, and brings a living, breathing saint to life -- someone whose revolutions, according to this book, saved the Church. And I think she's right.
Francis is among the saints -- those who are the "true makers" of our humanity, as Goudge puts it in the early pages of the book. "By emptying themselves, by getting rid of self altogether, they become the channels of God's creative power and by Him, thru them, we are made." She brings Francis' goodness -- which is to say God's grace -- to the forefront of the story on every page. "Looking at him we see what it means to be a Christian, and what it costs. His story is not only endearing; it is terrifying."
It's "terrifying", though, precisely because My God and My All paints the picture of a real man, whose work was among the first to care for lepers. His ordinary life is a life totally devoted to God, one in which he gave everything to God -- including the riches of his early life -- and in living in absolute poverty found a richness that can only be found in God's grace.
So Francis is a challenge to us. That's what makes this story so "terrifying".
Make no doubt about it, My God and My All is not a book you walk away from without being brought face-to-face with the question that Jesus asked of Francis: "Will you mend my Church?"
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I received a free copy of this book from Plough Publishing in exchange for my honest review here.