"Where there is hatred, let me sow love…”

“Lord, make me an instrument of Your Peace". "Where there is hatred, let me sow love…” —St. Francis of Assisi (1182-1226) The Italian founder of the Franciscan order of monks, St. Francis approached religion with joyousness and love, calling all living beings his brothers and sisters. The Prayer of St. Francis is one of the most famous and enduring of all prayers in recorded history. It expresses the deep yearning within all humans to be the spiritual being who inhabits our physical form. In the words of this prayer, St. Francis describes the essential content of our Highest Self. To ask for the strength to sow love where there is hatred, hope where there is despair, and light where there is darkness is to ask to be free from the pettiness and judgment that imprisons us. It is a request to be an expression of the powerful love that we attribute to the Creator and that is part of our being. When we know that we are never alone, we change our strategy for prayer and pray to that which we are already connected to; the highest, most sacred aspect of our own being. Instead of asking to be sheltered from danger, we ask for the strength to be fearless. Rather than asking for the removal of pain, we seek the ability to transcend it. This prayer of St. Francis is a way of seeking to practice in everyday life consoling, understanding, pardoning, and giving actions. By reciting this simple prayer we are taking steps to true spiritual growth. We are leaving ego behind and allowing our sacred self to be a dominant force in our lives. The very private, almost universal, awareness or practice of prayer is an incredibly powerful force for transformation in our lives when we place the emphasis of this activity on a kind of communion with the infinite in which we ask for the strength and courage to operate our daily lives from the principles laid out by St. Francis. When you pray to God, you pray to a silent and powerful eternal presence that is a part of yourself. Commune with this presence without any idea of being separate. Then practice the divine words of St. Francis and begin to put them to work in as many places as you can each day.