Tuesday, July 30, 2013

The Cave and Saint Francis

Mumford and Sons:  "The Cave" at Red Rocks in Colorado on 8/28/2012

“The Cave” lyrics

Did you know that this song is about Saint Francis?
St. Francis was born in 12th century Assisi to a rich cloth merchant.  He joined the military and was at some point taken captive and eventually released, after which he faced a devastating illness that spurred a religious crisis.   Francis famously renounced his father, his wealth, and founded the Franciscan Order- a group of monks known for ministering to the poor, owning no personal property, and dedicating themselves to mission work.

And how does the life of Francis relate to Mumford and Sons?

G.K. Chesterton (an author the band is reportedly fond of) wrote that Francis spent some time in a prison, or dark cave, and eventually came out changed.

The man who went into the cave was not the man who came out again; in that sense he was almost as different as if he were dead, as if he were a ghost or a blessed spirit. And the effects of this on his attitude towards the actual world were really as extravagant as any parallel can make them. He looked at the world as differently from other men as if he had come out of that dark hole walking on his hands.

St. Francis, an ex-soldier (like the ones in the video?) and son of a rich man, decides to renounce the lens of materialism and walks upside down in an attempt to see people for whom they are.  In The Cave we are tied to the post, listening to the Siren’s song, tempted to reduce humanity to consumption, and feeling our own propensity to follow that song to our deaths.

Even though we hear the Sirens, we continue to see “widows and orphans through [our] tears,”  catch glimpses of the “maker’s land,” and ultimately “know [our] call despite [our] faults and despite [our] growing fears.”

That’s how I hear it and that’s what I choose to carry with me.

How about you- what do you think about when you listen to The Cave?




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