This resource aims to inspire and stimulate conversations between Christians and the great traditions of Islam and Judaism. Celebrating eight hundred years since the life of St. Francis of Assisi (1181–1226), readers will now turn back to discover that the twelfth and thirteen centuries were a time of deep spiritual yearning across diverse cultures: people making fresh discoveries of the Divine that speak powerfully to souls today. Readers will uncover distinctive insights that challenge their own ways of thinking about and experiencing God. A time of uncertainty, overshadowed by fear and war, by darkness punctuated with sparks of faith, glimmers of renewal: not only Francis’ time but the twenty-first century too. These eternal stars inspire all to live lives of glowing faith, bringing hope to others. And in a divided, polarized world, stars which share a common firmament urge people to reach out to one other across the spaces that separate them, to learn from and encourage one other, and share their God-given light! Here is a catalyst for interfaith sharing, a resource opening up wider contexts for understanding Francis, a source book of wisdom texts to inspire lives of faith today, indeed a guidebook to the spiritual life.
