Donna Vande Kieft
My piece, “Where are the peacemakers?” was published in the July issue. The prayer attributed to St. Francis is a favorite of many. There is a statue of St. Francis at my front door. He is the patron saint of nature and animals.
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.
My relationship with St. Francis is complicated. I am not Catholic and I don’t have plants or a pet. One of my least favorite relatives is named Francis. I do love birds and recently in the heat a young roadrunner took refuge in the corner with St. Francis. He wanted nothing to do with me when I approached. My relative, Francis, is not a saint, but he reminds me a bit of the roadrunner. You can tell he would rather be elsewhere than in my company. It is a mutual feeling. And, I am grateful he is a good man and a good husband to my sister. I acknowledge his great virtues of generosity, service, and devotion.
St. Francis is more pious than most in his prayer. I want to console, understand, and love others, but I want that for myself, too—even especially from myself. Self-compassion, self-understanding, and self-love will go a long way toward offering it to others. No doubt St. Francis had to do some detaching in his life to pursue the simple spiritual lifestyle he chose over that which he was brought up in—elitism and wealth. He loved his Creator and Creation and made those his life priority.
The Presidential debate debacle may leave us confused and doubtful about the leadership of our country in the next four years. I invite us to pray the Prayer of St. Francis daily until the election, with modifications asking for consolation, understanding, and love as we try to live it with those who do not offer it back to us. Peacemaking is the way, the truth, and the life. It’s hard to make the way of non-violence, gentleness, and humility a priority in our culture, but it is a way of life we can choose and promote in our communities and with our families. The peacemakers are us. Let there be peace on earth, and let it begin with us.
Rev. Donna Vande Kieft is an ordained pastor, retired hospice chaplain, volunteer reading tutor, and peacemaker.