peace prayer

finding it harder and

harder to find the good,

the beautiful, the true

seems everyone hates

each other for the ways

they hate the other

the irony, to me, is plain

and still I feel the fire

in my belly, rising

"Lord, make me an instrument of

your peace," *

Not with cheap platitudes,

Jesus-jukes, not a pretend

peace that sounds pretty...

but turns out to be hollow.

Instead, make me soft to the

stories and burdens of

every image bearer I meet,

holding their hurt carefully,

drawing near in love,

that I would walk in this

world of hostility, division,

and fear holding out grace

to all who have ears to hear 

and hearts to receive, drinking 

from your deep well of peace. *from the peace prayer of Saint Francis of Assisi