“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; and where there is sadness, joy.” These words are the first part of the Prayer of St. Francis of Assisi, an Italian friar and mystic who lived in the thirteenth century, who loved nature and its creatures, and who is considered the patron saint of animals and ecology.
Each phrase of the prayer asks our Creator to help the person who is saying the prayer to assist in whatever way she or he can with the process of transforming something difficult and negative into something healing and positive. I use the words “process of transforming” because usually it takes time for such changes to happen, which requires patience along with the belief that such transformations can and do happen.
The words of this prayer remind me that, for our own spiritual growth and growth in consciousness, there will be times of questioning and doubt, times of sadness and despair. But because at other times we have experienced joy, hope, and being loved, and have witnessed or read about those experiences happening for other people, we are able to persevere through the darker times.
The words “make me an instrument of Your peace” are meaningful to me in that they remind me of the many times the Creator has worked through other people to help me on my path: a therapist I met with when I was going through a difficult period and from whom I learned about dream work and Jungian concepts that have helped me so much; creative and courageous authors of books I have read through which I’ve learned about many aspects of our world, that have added to my consciousness, and that have positively affected my relationships with others; people who have played a role in bringing about unexpected occurrences that have happened just when I needed them most.
The Creator worked through these people. They were the Creator’s instruments. Each of us can also be the Creator’s instrument in whatever ways we are called on to assist others and to live more productive and meaningful lives.