Saint Francis' Shadow

She was a very religious person. Everyone said so in our little town. I called at her home shortly after I arrived, and found her seated in the comfortable garden behind her small home. It was spring. The first flowers were in bloom and the tall maples whose branches spread over the garden were in bud. She sat on a cushioned chaise, wrapped in a long gray dress that amply covered her still somewhat stout figure. Her face was deeply lined. Even in her relaxed position, her eyes portrayed a careful defensiveness. Her mouth was thin and taut. Her first words to me were a surprise.

“Why have you come to this out-of-the-way village? I’m sure you’ve had better opportunities than this unless, of course, you were looking for a place to relax while you pursue more study or write a book.” Accepting her challenge, I said, “I’m much too inexperienced to write anything, and I’m finished with formal studies for a while.” I went on to say, “I looked for something semi-rural. I grew up in the city. I thought here I might find a different quality of life.”

“If you think this is the heavenly kingdom, young man, you will find you are sadly mistaken.”

“I wasn’t looking for heaven,” I laughed, “but I have found here a very congenial atmosphere.”

“I grew up in a small town like this,” she offered. “By the time I went off to college, I couldn’t wait to get away and I never returned. This place loses its brightest young people every year. That leaves only the muddleheaded and addlepated behind.”

Had she had a bad day, I asked myself. I hadn’t expected this very religious person to be sardonic and harsh. The image I had formed before coming was of a very sweet, gentle, forgiving aunt who occasionally visited my boyhood home. You are very naive, I told myself. I chatted for about a half-hour before a woman she called her helper appeared with a tray of coffee.

“Louise, this is our new parson. He suggests he’s chosen us because we are a benign and quiet community. Isn’t that nice?” Louise smiled wanly. “We hope you will like us. The last pastor didn’t stay very long. We were sorry to lose him.”