Category: St. Francis

A tool for spiritual growth

I recently participated in a meeting where we discussed this version of the St. Francis prayer.

“Lord, make me a channel of thy peace—that where there is hatred, I may bring love—that where there is wrong, I may bring the spirit of forgiveness—that where there is discord, I may bring harmony—that where there is error, I may bring truth—that where there is doubt, I may bring faith—that where there is despair, I may bring hope —that where there are shadows, I may bring light—that where there is sadness, I may bring joy. Lord, grant that I may seek rather to comfort than to be comforted—to understand, than to be understood—to love, than to be loved. For it is by self-forgetting that one finds. It is by forgiving that one is forgiven. It is by dying that one awakens to Eternal Life. Amen

When asked to share, my immediate reaction I shared was “Reading this makes me feels so (expletive deleted) inadequate.”

After I had shared, something occurred to me later I had wished I had shared.

So, my friends, here are my afterthoughts.

We are not perfect.

We have been placed here in this cosmos, this universe, this solar system, this earth by Infinite spirit (God).

Since I do not have the Creator’s insight, I can’t begin to define the purpose we are to serve while here in the physical body.

But the fact remains.

1. We are here.  
2. We are human.
3. We have choice.

One Inescapable Conclusion

We can choose.

Since we are here and we have been presented with something that seems to have been inspired by a Divine Spirit, such as this Prayer by St. Francis, we can choose to use it as an ideal.

It can be tool for growth rather than something we read and say, “Oh, that’s nice.”  

We can, instead, use this prayer as a set of principles to use to help us grow.

Steps We Can Take

The first step toward achieving the maximum value of this prayer is our WILLINGNESS to use it to foster our individual spiritual growth.

If we can adopt the willingness to use this prayer, we can break it down into its various components and use those components as instruments, then perhaps we can gain spiritual growth within ourselves.

What can we do?

1. We can shine the light of love onto feelings of anger, disgust, and hatred
2. We can forgive those who have wronged us
3. We can offer peace and harmony to situations of disagreement and discord
4. We can seek the truth where there is error
5. We can offer faith to those with doubt
6. We can offer hope to despair
7. We can offer light to the darkness
8. We can offer joy to sadness

And, most importantly,

We can offer love.

And then, maybe, we can begin to grow. . . one day at a time.

Thank you for reading.

Ed