Clare and Francis' "success" lies in their complete abandonment of self to the One who never ceases to have incredible confidence in us. They responded with passionate love to the passionate love God has for us humans. They dared to risk everything. They threw themselves with complete abandon into a life of total poverty, knowing it would lead them straight to the cross, to powerlessness and insignificance. Their logic was the Gospel logic of the seed that must die in order to bear fruit.