25 Prayers of Christmas, Day 11

My Grandma Audrey once gave me a bookmark with the Prayer of Saint Francis on it, written in French:

Seigneur, faites de moi un instrument de votre paix.Là où il y a de la haine, que je mette l'amour.Là où il y a l'offense, que je mette le pardon...

As I never took French, she wrote out the translation for me:

Lord, 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; where there is sadness, joy.

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; it is in dying that we are born again to eternal life.

What a beautiful prayer. And though my grandmother died 15 years ago, I still think about her, the books she gave me, the games we played, and this bookmark prayer.

I've been thinking about that prayer especially of late, considering all the violence in our world. Namely the shootings in San Bernadino here in California last week. I think about the little girl, the 6 month old daughter that the couple who did the killings left behind. I think about what a tragic beginning this is for her, that she too is an innocent victim. And I wonder, what if we channeled all of our hatred toward the parents, into love for their child. What if instead of a life of despair, we made sure that she grew up in a world of hope. Imagine, that we have the power to turn her darkness into light, her sadness into joy.

What if, in all things, we carried this prayer with us. Lord, make me an instrument of Your peace...

Where there is darkness, let me be light...