In the mid 1970’s, the Prayer of St. Francis appeared on the cover of the Parade Magazine in the Allentown Morning Call, my hometown newspaper. It was the first Sunday of the New Year and my introduction to this beautiful prayer. I was so moved by the piece that I tore the cover from the magazine and placed it in my box of special things. From time to time I would come across it when I wander through my box of memories. I have used it as a gauge for how I am living my life.
On Saturday, December 31, as I sat quietly knitting at home pondering what was to come in 2012, this prayer came back to me in a new and fresh way.
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,
and it is in dying that we are born to Eternal Life.
Amen.
Just like the prayer states, there is often hatred, injury, doubt, despair, darkness, and sadness here at Water Street Ministries, as we help people who are hurting. I hear it out my office window from the sidewalk below along Prince Street. It could be the despair of a single mother whose child will not stop crying. Or, amidst obscenities screamed at each other, the sadness of a couple whose relationship is falling apart.
But we as staff don’t do life perfectly, either. We are hurting, too. Sometimes I also feel despair in myself when I lose focus and become tired, overwhelmed.
Lord, in spite of my work load and busyness, may I try to be understanding, to love those that are seemingly harder to love, to give where there is a need, to forgive those that need forgiveness.
It is being like Jesus in how we live our lives and how we relate to those He puts in our path each day, that we will find our peace. Lord, make me an instrument of your love and peace that others may find you and the eternal life that you promise. Amen.
Sharon Houck is a Data Entry Assistant at Water Street Ministries, helping to make sure donors get accurate and timely receipts.