I receive a daily email called The Morning Blessings by a gal named Reverend Angela Peregoff. Her words touch me every morning.
A couple days ago, she wrote about St. Francis. Take a look at her Morning Blessing for May 4:
During these challenging times, each of us has the opportunity to inwardly introspect on what may be our own aggressive tendencies. Sometimes we think, "Oh, I'm a very peaceful person. I just love everyone!" Try this: Walk down the street and look directly into the faces of others. Objectively observe how your mind chatters about appearances. You will be amazed at the overt and subtle ways in which aggression manifests.
Aggression of thought has its own vibratory potency, and it begins and ends with us. It is good to often pray the prayer of Saint Francis, "Lord, make me an instrument of Thy peace." Mean it. Saint Francis' lesson was to heal the struggle he had with his vision of God. After a strong and powerful illness he came to an understanding. He saw that he had tried to equate "goodness" with "love of God," and they were not the same. Early one morning as the dawn began to break, when all was very quite and still, he heard a bird outside his window -- in a totally new way. In the power of the song of that bird he understood! The way to love God and the only way was to hear God's voice in everything. In the mist of his physical healing he realized You love God through loving God, and not from anything else. He knew, absolutely, that there was no separation between the sounds of the world and the "Voice of God." The birds that sang, the cries of the dying, the scream of the mad, in the despair of the leper, in the moans of the abandoned child. From that moment on, Francis could never again separate out any call for help from the God Source he knew to be Real.
The only difference between you and Saint Francis is that he came to know God was absolutely real and that he could be in touch with that reality at any time. He knew it, with all the power of his being. You also have that same potential. Go out today and be touched by the life and lessons of Saint Francis -- know that every moment you are speaking, you are not speaking to others; you are speaking to God.
I admire St. Francis. He left a life of luxury to found the Franciscan Order. He lived in poverty. Many people thought he was mad, and I don't mean angry.
I walked outside at lunch and sat down on a park bench. I heard the birds with new ears; I watched the squirrels with new eyes. I thought about my patients who challenge my patience or get under my skin.
How do I open my heart to see theirs as voices of God?
St. Francis gave us the roadmap:
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;
and where there is sadness, joy.
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.
Yes, I know it's tough. No one said it was supposed to be easy.
How much change could we effect
if we all put this into daily practice?
