Prayer of St. Francis, aka. A Prayer for Peace Prayer

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 sorrow, joy.

Oh 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 into eternal life.

Father Esther Bouquerel – 1912

A re-imagined Prayer of St. Francis ~

Divine Spirit Within, I offer my life as a place of peace.

Even when the illusion of separation clouds my vision, I express love.

I forgive any and all mistakes in action, thought, or desire.

I release the need to know any outcome, dwelling in this perfect moment.

I am not alone in my suffering. Everything in life is surmountable.

When darkness falls, I find comfort in the promised dawn of a new day.

I remain unattached to sorrow or joy, both are temporary blessings.

O Divine Mother, all that I need is available to me.

I offer comfort to all beings.

Accepting myself, I accept others.

My very nature is Pure, unconditional Love.

I offer my life into the service of creation.

Forgiveness is the path to freedom from separation.

I surrender into the eternality of Life.

Interpretation:

When reading a prayer with the intent to understand its meaning and make it relevant for my practice and life, I often change some of the words, fitting them into my own frame of reference. When I first started doing this, it felt almost sacrilegious. As if I was taking something holy and twisting it to fit my ego. Eventually, I came to realize that since God lives within me just as She lives within the heart of the original creator of the prayer, then perhaps it is alright to use creative license to strengthen my understanding of the words, and deepen my own faith.

In the Prayer of St. Francis, I begin with the word Lord, changing it to Divine Spirit Within. I am reminding myself that in this prayer I am communing with the divinity residing in my own soul, that I am not separate from Life, and that the qualities I'm praying for are already present within me.

Make me an instrument of Thy peace, becomes… I offer my life as a place of peace.

In this line, I'm invoking peace and offering the container of my life as a place of peace. Having a human body, I know that I will continue to experience times of confusion. I am choosing to be an active participant in bringing peace into my life and into the world. As an instrument of peace, I offer myself to Life while remembering that peace in my life is a result of my efforts. Peace is not something I can passively hope for but, like love, it is a lifestyle to be practiced.

Where there is hatred, let me sow love / Even when the illusion of separation clouds my vision, I express love.

I am responsible for my own experience. Feeling separate from life is both cause and effect of hatred, anger, fear, and resentment. It is a result of the choices I am making, and up to me to choose differently. Instead of hatred, I can choose to open my heart to the person, place, or thing. I can replace anger with understanding, fear with compassion, resentment with joy. The antidote to hatred is love. Where love is, hatred dissolves. If I love without condition, then hatred can’t poison my mind.

Where there is injury, pardon / I forgive any and all mistakes in action, thought, or desire.

No matter what has happened before, I have the power to redesign and redeem my life in this moment. To align with that which is true and perfect, and to forgive myself and others for any wrongs, imagined or otherwise. It also reminds me that holding onto resentments and injury does nothing to resolve my life. Forgiveness is something I offer to Spirit, not because I want to forget, but because I want to open my life to a future that isn't limited by the past.

Where there is doubt, faith. / I release the need to know any outcome, dwelling in this perfect moment.

As humans we are limited in our understanding of the world, only seeing that which can be perceived by the five senses. Our Soul, the Indwelling Spirit, has the viewpoint of infinity, knowing that there is a much greater experience than what our personal limitations allow. When I have doubts regarding the perfect outcome of my life, faith allows me to remember that I don't need to know what the future outcome will be, and that everything always works out fine in the end. Life is part of an infinite dance of time, space, and consciousness. Faith knows this, even when doubt forgets. With faith, I rest in the infinity of this one, perfect moment.

Where there is despair, hope. / I am not alone in my suffering. Everything in life is surmountable.

Life happens to all of us. When the unthinkable happens, we may find ourselves asking "why me?" The answer to this question must always be "why not me." When my son died, I felt myself connected to every mother, throughout time and space, who has lost a child. I felt more human than I ever had before, understanding that my experiences are not my own; and that those events which seem the most difficult, are also the most universal. Because I have overcome challenges in the past, I know that I hold within me the ability to overcome future obstacles.

Where there is darkness, light. / When darkness falls, I find comfort in the promised dawn of a new day.

We know that terrible things happen in the world. So often, we are thrust into an abyss of depression that feels relentless and irreversible. Events like mass murders, threats of terrorism, domestic violence of all sorts, and the collapse of the structures we rely upon to feel safe in the world lead us to the experience of fear, and the worry that any minute now, the sky will come crashing down upon us. It is in these moments when we must remember that darkness is simply the absence of light. If we can remember that the light shining upon us is, in fact, the light shining within us, we begin to transform these dark nights into the light of dawn.

Where there is sorrow, joy. / I remain unattached to sorrow or joy, both are temporary blessings.

As a human, our lives are constantly shifting from sorrow and disappointment to joy and satisfaction. Just as I know my sorrow will eventually turn to joy and back again, I accept these variations in my experience of life and know that they are all temporary. The more intense the event, the greater the blessing I will find in it.

O Divine Master, O Divine Mother, grant that I may not so much seek. / All that I need is available to me.

Help me to remember that there is nothing to seek for the kingdom of heaven is within. All that I need is available to me. Right now, in this moment, I have the skills, wisdom, and compassion to be all that I need to be.

To be consoled as to console. / I offer comfort to all beings.

What would be the purpose in seeking to be consoled? Do I truly wish to remain caught in the self-pity of victimhood, or can I be a better servant of Good by finding the places in Life where I might provide comfort to those in need. When I leave behind my neediness, comforting those less fortunate, my own suffering is replaced with compassion. I am a safe space for Life to unfold.

To be understood as to understand. / Accepting myself, I accept others.

When I stop seeking to be understood I realize that I am like everyone else, with personal quirks and dreams, desires and hopes. When I instead seek to understand others, my compassion grows and I learn to accept them as they are. Accepting others allows me to accept myself and enjoy the individuality of us all.

To be loved as to love. / My very nature is Pure, unconditional Love.

When I make a shift in consciousness away from the expectation and belief that love is something that happens to me, I discover that love is a verb – an action to take, a choice to make, independent of circumstance. Love is what I do and who I am. When I choose to maintain an unconditional expression of love, I begin to see love everywhere as a manifestation of God; for God is love, pure love, and my true nature is love in form.

For it is in giving that we receive. / I offer my life into the service of creation.

When I give of myself in some way, be it time, energy, financial resources or other needs, I receive much in return. It’s been said that a spiritual person is someone who gives more than they receive. The way we show our love for God is through our service to Creation. When we give without the expectation of reward, when we release attachment to the fruits of our giving, we remain open to the Divine, allowing for whatever dramatic disguise Spirit will arrive in today.

It is in pardoning that we are forgiven. / Forgiveness is the path to freedom from separation.

Forgiveness is a path to freedom from all that keeps us separate from God, and alone in our suffering. We often think of forgiveness as something we offer to those whose actions have harmed us in some way. But what about practicing self-forgiveness? My ego can dredge up all sorts of the many mistakes I've made. And what of the mistakes made by others? How often have I judged someone who didn't fit into my carefully constructed rules of engagement? When I stop for a moment to remember that others aren’t here to follow my rules, I see that it is my own judgment that separates us. By pardoning them, I find forgiveness for my transgressions. We are one, and when I forgive others the world forgives me.

And it is in dying that we are born into eternal life. / I surrender into the eternality of Life.

Dying is an experience that happens on many levels. Every day we move closer to leaving behind this body made of earth, air, water and fire. Our cells die, as do our expectations and illusions. With every ending there is a beginning. It is part of the cycle of our existence - we begin, carry on for awhile, and then dissolve back into consciousness. With every little death that happens we release another bit of separation and move more fully into the unity and bliss of the realization of our true Self. When death comes, we surrender, for all that is of the earth will eventually return to the earth.

A re-imagined Prayer of St. Francis ~

Spirit Within, I offer my life as a place of peace.

Even when the illusion of separation clouds my vision, I express love.

I forgive myself for any and all mistakes I have made.

I release the need to know any outcome; dwelling in this perfect moment.

I am not alone in my suffering; I know everything in life is surmountable.