New Light Through An Old Window

New Light Through An Old Window 

Short Story by Paul McCann

went back to the place he grew up in .Checked out the town . The school had closed its door but the old building still stood . He found an open door at the back and went inside the classroom where he was taught how to read and write . One or two of the old desks were still in the classroom. As he wiped away the thick dust on top of the desk, he was amazed to find that his initials FC were there gouged into the timber . On the windows dirt was layered in thick crusts . There was bird droppings , mud , dye from some fallen leaves had splashed a copper shimmer over the dust and grime . 

A dim light pierced the quiet classroom . The silence was broken by a mouse that scurried across the floor . He jumped and just for a moment he almost heard the teacher call out his name . 

“Francis Clancy . Sit down read from your book .“ 

He wiped some of the dust of the seat and sat down . Looking uo at the cobwebs on the ceiling he thought of the years that had passed and wondered where all his friends had gone to . He remembered how they had always commented about his calling in life . If only he could tell them now that they were right Francis had become a brother in a religious order who’s apostolate was in teaching . He wondered about the old school that was now closed and even began to think how nice it would be to have the school reopened . Slowly time passed as he sat there thinking about his old school friends . He spend a moment or two in silent prayer and mentioned the names of all those ho he could remember . At the close of the prayer he handed over those who he had forgotten to God and prayed for their intentions . It was time to leave the old classroom and return to life . So Francis walked out the door and left his memories there behind in the dust of what used to be . 

Down through town he walked looking around at the old buildings Eventually he came to the church where he was baptised and had made his sacraments Just like the old school the church was also closed . He made his way to a the front door of the building and pushed it open . To his surprise the re was a commune of hippies living inside . He wandered in and introduced himself to some of them . The first person he met was a girl who was carrying an unborn child in her womb . He smiled at her and said , 

“Hello . My name is Francis . I used to go to church here . Its been a long time since I was here and I’m so glad to see that the old place is still doing what it was intended to do .“ 

“What ?” 

Came the reply . 

Francis responded quickly and quietly . 

“To give shelter to all those within its walls . Thanks for your welcome .“ 

A couple of pigeons who where perched on the beams near the roof took flight and glided through the air and then made their way out through an open window . Francis stood there and laughed for a moment . 

Some of the other residents came over to meet Francis . A young man reached out his hand to Francis and said ,. 

“Hello I’m Leigh . Sometimes we tie a message to their legs . We write poetry and messages of peace and love and hope that their flight might bring them to somebody out there will read the words we send .” 

Francis replied , 

“Nice meet you Leigh I ‘m Francis . You know what I think my friend , well there are so many people in the world today that need to hear messages like that . I hope the pigeons get your message through .“ 

Leigh seemed very taken by what Francis had said and asked , 

“Would you like to stay with us for a while Francis ?” 

“I’d love to but I must return to the monastery tonight .‘ 

Said Francis 

“Ok , well if you change your mind the offer is still open .” 

Francis took a long look around at the inside of the old building and them walked out into the main street . He noticed outside on the street there was a pigeon strolling about , The pigeon had a small piece of paper tied to its leg . Francis placed his hands around the bird and took the note and read it silently to himself . 

“This message of peace comes to you from a pigeon . You can crush the bird or crumple up the paper in your hands . Its your choice but I would like ti think that you could spread this peace on to others and let the bird go .“ 

Francis took a pen from his top pocket and wrote another message . 

“May the peace you find take wings and fly to others that they may know it was you who sent it .“ 

He tied the message to the pigeons leg and carried the bird all the way to the town centre before letting it go . The bird refused to fly and for a while it just strutted around the ground . Then in the blink of an eye it took to the sky and flew away . Francis walked to the bus stop and waited for the bus to come but he had spent so much time in the old church that he had missed the bus . He decided to accept the offer and stay the night with the hippy commune . 

He walked back to the commune and spoke to Sky, who was happy to see him . 

She stood beside him and said , 

“So you’re going to stay with us tonight ?” 

“Well hello again . Ah yes I’ve missed the bus so if its all right I’ll find a place to lay down .“ 

“Sure . Hey I’ll come and sit with you for a while later on . I should have been preparing dinner a half hour ago . ” 

She smile and left . Brother Francis wandered up the old staircase to the choir loft above the front entrance . As he looked down into the heart of the building he watched a young man sit down on the wooden floor where the altar once sat . He had a guitar and started to play . He was joined by two girls who had flutes . Their soft music was pleasant to listen to . Across the floor three girls danced to the melodies . Some young children played catch with a ball . Francis took a pencil from his pocket and drew a sketch of the scene below on a sheet of paper . He always carried art supplies in case something captured his heart , Francis was a gifted artist and could have made a lot of money if he had the mind to . As it turned out another calling had walked into his life . 

As twilight fell so did the rain straight through the roof . There were leaks in then old roof and a group of hippies placed buckets and pots on the floor below to collect the rain water . Francis began to think about fixing the old place up . He had the idea that maybe there was a possibility that he could get permission to restore the building back to its original state . 

When he finished the sketch he returned back down from the choir loft . 

Francis could not get the thought of restoring the building out of his head and silently began to pray about that . 

He wondered if it was Gods will that had brought this thought to him .As he wandered among the hippies he felt connected to them . 

Sky brought him some food and drink as it started to get dark . A number of candles were lit around and a heavenly light flickered through the building . 

Memories streamed back to Francis about his childhood days when evening church services were a regular part of the Sun Valley Parish community . 

He remembered the novenas with the stations of the cross ,choir practices and evening mass on holy days of obligation . Winter evenings with wax therapy as it was often called . The church had always been a busy place when he was a child . The church had always been a major part of his life .

There was a welcome still in the old building . After he ate he sketched some of the happy faces in small groups and handed them on to the people . 

So impressed where they with his work that each picture was hung around the walls of the building . It was nice to see his works on display .People were making comments about each one and a great deal of interest was being shared around about the talented artist who was in their midst . Francis was asked questions about who he was and what he was doing there . 

Francis told them he was a religious Brother and asked them questions about their lifestyle . He began to understand their free spirit . In the world but not of it . They were gentle souls who were not lost but together on an island where they could see the blindness of the world around them . Their lifestyle was a step away from what was considered acceptable by society . The music was still echoing from the place where the altar once sat and suddenly Francis felt an urge to pray about the place where they stood . Suddenly light shone through to where it once was dark . 

He smiled and asked if anyone wanted to join him in prayer and someone said , 

“All right . How do we pray ? 

“Close your eyes and say hello to God “ 

Francis replied. 

“Can he hear ?” 

Francis said , 

“Yes . He is always there with you .“ 

As Francis started to pray so did everyone else until a beautiful noise transcended up through the old roof to heaven above . 

Francis realised there and then God was at work . An answer had come and a new parish community was being formed before his very eyes . 

Francis stayed up all that night and continued to pray and in the morning light he asked how many would consider becoming Catholics . The answer he got was almost unanimous . He wrote down each of their names and had them sign beside with a commitment to become a catholic . The list of names numbered over a hundred people . 

He told everyone on the strength of this he could present a letter to the bishop informing him about the promise of a new parish in Sun Valley . 

It seemed now things were in Gods hands as he caught the bus and made his way to the bishops house . He walked in like a man on a mission hanging on to the hope that the bishop would say yes . 

That day the bishop made a journey to the old church at Sun Valley and met the hippy commune .A closed door had been opened . 

Francis had been a tool in the restoration of the old church . 

“Hey brother , where you going ?” 

Sky said as the Bishop and Francis left . 

“To seek approval . ” 

Francis said . 

“How long will it take ?” 

Sky asked as Francis asked the same question to the bishop . 

“In this new freedom I have seen a new light through an old window .“ 

The Bishop replied . Francis smiled and waited for something else . 

“I’m going to appoint a priest and three brothers to the new parish of St Francis in Sun Vallet . Work to restore the building will begin immediately . 

Francis broke down in tears of joy and promised to do everything he could to make good Catholics out of the hippy community . 

The news of the miracle in Sun Valley spread through the Catholic grapevine and donations began to arrive . The funds were provided to build a new church within a week from people who wanted to stay anonymous . 

Three years later crowds made their way to mass at St Francis Catholic church and children were back again at the old school that had been shut . Gods grace was alive and well in Sun Valley once again . 

The End