Make me an instrument of peace. – St. Francis
I like this prayer. I noted it in the “I pray. But not like that.” piece I wrote this summer because it keeps me humble, keeps me from forgetting what the agenda is, and ultimately if good things seem to happen, who the actor really is. Kent Nerburn wrote a whole book on it.
I took out the ‘Lord’ and ‘O Divine Master’ to make it less religious-sounding, but that’s my hangup I guess. And there’s more than one way to interpret the ‘born to eternal life’ at the end.
Make me an instrument of peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
Where there is injury, pardon;
Where there is doubt, faith;
Where there is despair, hope;
Where there is darkness, light; and
Where there is sadness, joy.
Grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled, as to console;
To be understood, as to understand;
To be loved, as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive;
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
And it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.