Francis Schaeffer died in in 1984 at the age of 72, but his life had a significant impact on the way modern Christianity interacts with the world. According to his son, Frank Schaeffer, Jerry Falwell once said, "without Francis, the Christian Right would have never existed." But interestingly enough, Francis lived a significant part of his life as the founder and leader of a communal Christian living and learning space in Switzerland called the L'Abri community. This community was known for its loving acceptance of the outcasts and hippies of society. Young, unwed mothers and homosexuals were welcomed with open arms and compassion.In his book, "Crazy For God," his son, Frank Schaeffer recounts how his life went from wandering thought Swiss hillside communities as a child to Christian rockstardom in his twenties to a supporter of Barak Obama today.
I heard an interview he did with Terry Gross on NPR's Fresh Air last week on Dec 9. My aunt emailed me today to ask my thoughts on the interview. As I re-listened to the podcast version, I was struck by how I could tie his words to where I heard them first. As he spoke of the backlash of his Democrat support in the 08 election, I was passing under I-4 on Orange driving into downtown. When he talked about the opera singer that moved moved to L'Abri to be part of the community, I was turning at the stoplight on Church and Hughey near my apartment. As I pulled into my parking garage he spoke of his conversion to the Greek Orthodox Church. When I parked, he said, "If I wanted to be an atheist, the first thing I would do is to pray to God to help me."
The vividness of these memories says something about the intensity and impact of what he had to say had on me. Perhaps you'll find it interesting as well. Here's a link to the podcast of the Dec 9, 2008 podcast in iTunes:
1 comment:
I'll send you my copy of "A Christian Manifesto," compliments of Santa ;-)
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