Franciscan theologian Bonaventure (1217-1274) saw God as "a circle whose center is everywhere and whose circumference is nowhere." You fall into this Wholeness--which will actually hold you--when you stop denying or excluding things, even the dark parts of yourself. This mystery of including the negative was probably best taught by St. Thérèse of Lisieux (1873-1897), a Carmelite nun who became the youngest, least educated, and most quickly made Doctor of the Church. I think she was really Franciscan; she just didn't know it! She was simply an authentic Christian. [1]

Thérèse rediscovered the same thing that Francis did: We don't come to God by eliminating our imperfection, but by rejoicing in it because it makes us aware of our need for God's mercy and love and it keeps us humble. She called this her "Little Way," a way which everyone can follow. Brother Joe Schmidt describes Thérèse's method as "the way of being aware of your need for love, willing to give yourself to God's loving embrace like a child abandons itself with confidence and love into the arms of its loving parent, and then freely sharing love with others in creative good works of peace and justice. It is the willingness to be the person God calls you to be."[2]