Instrument of HIS Peace

Instrument Of HIS Peace

LORD, make me an instrument of your 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;

where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master,

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;

It is in dying that we are born to eternal life.

-attributed to St. Francis of Assisi

It occurs to me that part of our problem as Americans is that we are too blessed. As a society we don't have to worry about where our next meal will come from, we don't have to worry that we will be persecuted for our beliefs, we don't have to worry that our children will die a young death due to war, famine, disease, poverty. As a society we have enough, more than enough really. Our houses are filled to the brims with... everything. More clothes than anyone can wear in a month. Some people in the world have only the clothes on their backs. More videos and video games and electronic dodads than an army of people can use in a year. Some people don't know what electricity is. More dishes and pots and pans and places to store and prepare food than we use in a lifetime. Some people pray that their children won't have to go to bed hungry. Again. I read somewhere that it is hard for people returning from mission trips, there is a difference in how they look at the world. I want that different. I want to stop looking at my life thru the eyes of one who has never truely needed for anything. I want to see GOD's people thru HIS eyes, and be an instrument of HIS peace.