It’s challenging to be instruments of God’s peace in a highly charged world.  But if there is to be unity instead of division, hope instead of hate, then we need to find ways to be catalysts of peace each day.

The well known and beautiful prayer of St. Francis helps us to think about what that might look like.

Lord, make me an instrument of Thy peace;
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
Where there is injury, pardon;
Where there is error, the truth;
Where there is doubt, the faith;
Where there is despair, hope;
Where there is darkness, light;
And 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. Amen.