St. Francis's Birthday

Blessings on my friend and coach and you-name-it, Laura Young, and for her posting today. I'm borrowing from her for some of my work here... Thanks Laura.

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;
and where there is sadness, 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.

AMEN

It is a beautiful prayer. I've heard/read it before; I believe in its sentiments.
For today, I must edit a version for my own understanding...

Lord, make me an instrument of thy peace;
May I seek to hold a peaceful space in the midst of chaos; don't let me seek to impose it.
where there is hatred, let me sow love;
While understanding that hatred is a human thing and no more wrong in the moment than any other emotion.
where there is injury, pardon;
My job is to let go of guilt where I have injured others and let go of blame where I have been injured; I believe that 'pardon' is within the purview of the Devine. For me (for now) the concept of forgiveness implies a judgement. If I do not judge, do not place blame, there is no need for me to forgive. It smacks of a kind of arrogance I don't understand and am not willing to embrace. Whether I (or another) seeks forgiveness from whatever Holy Source we believe in, is separate and apart.
I do 'get it' that I stand virtually alone in holding this opinion. It is also quite possible that I am totally and completely wrong. I don't mind that; time and Spirit will tell.
where there is doubt, faith;
I've still working on 'faith' and yet I do have it. I believe that all things come to us from a Master Plan (even the painful ones) and that there is light on the other side.
where there is despair, hope;
Only in dispair did I learn the immense value of reaching out to say, "I need...". So here, again, I hold hope-full space and an open heart, and know that this, too, can be part of a devine plan.
where there is darkness, light;
No problem with this...all I can really do is to hold us all in holy, peaceful, calm, hopeful Light.
and where there is sadness, joy.
"Joy comes in the morning." It's for after the walk thru the dark valley. To mention it too soon is to deny the reality of the pain, anger...whatever it is that goes on in the moment.
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,
All of this is 100% true and right-on-the-money for me. And it is in the 'giving' of these things, that I receive them.
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned
I've already discussed my problems with the 'pardoning' thing...

So the learning goes on.
There have been explosions and tears and guilt and sadness

and one day we will all be on the other side of this. We exist in the Light, even when we can see no sign of it.

Thanks to all of you for your encouraging comforting words. :)