Chesterton's Francis

I'm reading G. K. Chesterton's Saint Francis of Assisi (with an introduction by Joseph Pearce).  Here's an excerpt from Pearce's introduction:

The admiration that Chesterton felt towards St. Francis was inextricably bound up with his belief in the superiority of childlike innocence over all forms of cynicism.  St. Francis and his followers were called the Jongleurs de Dieu because of the innocence of their jollity and the jollity of their innocence.  'The jongleur was properly a joculator or jester; sometimes he was what we should call a juggler.'  It was this mystical synthesis of laughter and humility, a belief that playing and praying go hand in hand, which was the secret of the saint's success.  Ultimately, however, the laughter and the humility were rooted in gratitude because, as Chesterton discerned with characteristic and Franciscan sagacity: 'There is no way in which a man can earn a star or deserve a sunset.'

I too believe childlike innocence is far superior to cynicism, that playing and praying go hand in hand, and that we can be grateful for all things, especially as we know all things come through Our Father's loving hands.