Let Peace Dwell Here

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There are some days, when all of the terrible, horrible news is overwhelming. Some events happen across the globe, to individuals whom I will never know, while other times darkness falls a bit closer to home.

Every day, lives are shattered and altered at the hands of ugliness in our world. But every day is also an opportunity for us to stand up and live a life where peace dwells. It’s a choice.

Jealousy, Anger, hatred, ignorance and selfishness steal peace, robbing both the doer and the victim(s) of a peaceful heart. But no life is purposefully set on a course of destruction. No child chooses to be neglected or abandoned. No child chooses to be bullied. No person chooses mental illness. Rather, each and every life has the potential to change the world in a positive way. Whether it is to one other person, or a million, small acts of kindness promote love and peace… even to those who have already stepped foot on a path intended to disrupt peace.

So, on days like today when my heart can only handle a small bit of news, I choose to remember the lives touched and lost by acts of violence by living a life of love. This prayer is practically muscle memory to my heart.

Prayer of St. Francis

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;
it is in dying that we are born again to eternal life.

The opportunities for you to choose love and peace are everywhere if you stop long enough to observe the world around you. Don’t know where to start? Here are a few places, but sometimes you will stumble upon unexpected opportunities during your everyday life. Don’t be too rushed to overlook them, because you never know when a simple act of kindness can be the life changing ray of light in someone else’s life.