Lenten Meditations: April 7
Excerpt from the Prayer of Saint Francis (authorship unknown)
Lord make me an instrument of Thy 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.
Reflection
I’ve had a framed calligraphy of this St Francis of Assisi prayer on the wall of my office and home for over 25 years. It resonated with me as a philosophy of life, as my primary guiding principles. It is direct, clear, and more relevant today more than ever for me and hopefully for you, our beloved Plymouth community.
Prayer (2nd half of the Prayer of Saint Francis):
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.