PRAYER OF ST FRANCIS
Make me a channel of your peace,
Where there is hatred let me bring your love,
Where there is injury your pardon Lord,
And where there's doubt true faith in you.
Make me a channel of your peace,
Where there's despair in life, let me bring hope,
Where there is darkness, only light,
And where there's sadness, ever joy.
O Master grant that I may never seek,
So much to be consoled as to console,
To be understood as to understand,
To be loved as to love with all my soul.
Make me a channel of your peace,
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
In giving to all men that we receive
And in dying that we are born to eternal life
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CNN News today ran a story of the escalating level of violence that is attaching itself to the McCain campaign. The ugliness of the situation is described at:
http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/10/10/mccain.crowd/index.html
There is a related story on beliefnet:
http://blog.beliefnet.com/progressiverevival/2008/10/kill-him-crosses-the-line.html
What I see happening today in the campaign, in our nation, and in our clergy disturbs me greatly. It disturbs me because those who are in leadership positions who could be the voice of reason to quiet the violence are the ones inciting it. John McCain started the hate campaign so he could win the election. He continues to refuse to say or do anything to stop the escalating violence when he speaks. Sarah Palin actively encourages the hate and continuously fans the flame of hate in every speech she makes, and seems to be really getting a thrill out of the way the crowd responds. Both are doing what they do with the approval of the Republican Party and the current administration.
The clergy who was so vocal in their condemnation of Obama for his supposed position on abortion, is amazingly silent on this latest development from the McCain camp. Why?
Do we have to experience the violence of a riot, with the subsequent destruction and death it will bring before we say ENOUGH! I was working in public safety during the race riots of the 70's. Believe me when I say ... we do NOT EVER want to see a repeat of that or anything like it. Yet that is exactly where our leadership is taking us.
One of the few things I remember about my confirmation several decades ago, was that the prayer of St Francis was one of the songs that was sung at the confirmation mass. It brought tears to my eyes that day, and it still does today. To me, the prayer of St. Francis is what Catholicism is really about. It is what Christianity is all about. It is the example that I devoted my life to then, and continue to devote my life to living now.
It only takes one voice to change the world. ONE! One person, one time to choose to respond with peace instead of hate to a situation. Any situation. We are so close to critical mass of peace now, so close, ...
What if, that one voice is something as simple as a smile, or a good morning, or a choice to bless the driver in front of us instead of cursing them for being (whatever). What if all it would take would be one moment in one day to remember the prayer of St. Francis, and put it into action.
What if that one voice is ours, invoking a Master's Prayer for peace today.
It only takes one, just one, one voice to change the world.
Carl
Update: These were posted on Yahoo News after I first posted this blog:
"McCain was booed by his own supporters Friday when ... he described the Democrat as a "decent person"
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081011/ap_on_el_pr/mccain_angry_crowds
"There is also the belief that taking out Obama is the only way to win."
http://news.yahoo.com/s/politico/20081010/pl_politico/14445;_ylt=Am_BSfsNfQM6GHzDFAszHTJh24cA
