Let the LORD give strength to his people!
Let the LORD bless his people
with peace!
(Psalm 29:11)
With Peace
Good Day Family,
The other day I saw a modification of the prayer of St. Francis of Assissi, which begins by asking the Holy One to “Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.” The modified version began instead by saying, “Lord, make me a channel of disturbance.” I find both prayers worth praying, but the person who posted it seemed to disparage the pursuit of peace.
That’s understandable if you subscribe to our common definition of peace as simply the absence of conflict. But, Francis prayed for God’s peace. That peace requires justice. That peace nurtures abundance and harmony. That peace lifts up the lowly and humbles the exalted. God’s peace restores God’s creation to a world very different from the broken one in which we live. God’s peace does not stifle those in pain for the comfort of those who inflict it or benefit from the causes of that pain. God’s peace isn’t easy.
The psalmist understood that and so they ask first for strength and then peace, because peace requires something of us. Let’s hear from Francis:
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,
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.
Now, let’s pray the remixed version (author unknown):
Lord, make me a channel of disturbance.
Where there is apathy, let me provoke;
Where there is compliance, let me bring questioning;
Where there is silence, may I be a voice.
Where there is too much comfort and too little action, grant disruption;
Where there are doors closed and hearts locked,
Grant the willingness to listen.
When laws dictate and pain is overlooked…
When tradition speaks louder than need…
Grant that I may seek rather to do justice than to talk about it;
Disturb us, O Lord.
To be with, as well as for, the alienated;
To love the unlovable as well as the lovely;
Lord, make me a channel of disturbance.
Amen. Amen.
Let Your kindom come and Your will be done…and make us a vessel for Your kindom!
With peace,
Be well,
Pastor Cheryl
We are the church and as we gather, in whatever form that may be, to worship, fellowship and serve, the church is alive and well.
Let us encourage one another. Remain safe and check in on one another. We will get through this, and when we do…and look back on the other side…we will be stronger, more grateful, and more connected than ever.