When I was in high school, a youth choir I participated in did a piece of music that was, in many ways, quite transcendent.
It comes to mind from time to time. Today, as I was thinking about the very idea of prayer and the many ways that the concept has evolved in my thinking over the years, it came up again.
Lord, make me an instrument of Thy peace
Where there is hatred, let me sow love
Where there is injury, pardon
Where there is doubt, faith
Wherever there's despair, hope
Where there's darkness, light
Where there is sadness, joy.
Lord, make me an instrument of Thy peace
Oh Lord, 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
Lord, make me an instrument of Thy peace
For it is in giving, that we receive
For it is by faith that we believe
For in forgiving we are forgiven
It is in dying that we are born to eternal life
Make me an instrument of Thy peace
The arrangement we sang was this one, set to music by Mary McDonald. She attributed the lyrics—as many do—to St. Francis of Assisi, but there appears to be little evidence that they are any older than the early 20th Century.
Regardless of their origins, these words are resonating with me today. I hope they provide something meaningful to you.