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 above is the very well-known, much loved prayer of St. Francis of Assisi. Besides the Our Father, it is perhaps my favorite prayer and it hangs above my desk with one other prayer and an old sticker from one of my brothers-in-law that says “Deadlines amuse me.”

It’s a little ironic that both the sticker and the prayer could be signs of optimism, or at least I think so. I tend to be a “glass half full, kind of gal” but I am also a realist. Optimism isn’t always as easy as it looks.

Obviously a deadline, in the minds of most journalists, evokes a fair amount of stress and pressure, so to find something amusing about it can bring forth some calm, odd as it may be.

The Prayer of St. Francis on the other hand is the perfect example of finding light in the darkness. It is an example of flipping your life. Take something negative and find the bright side, the joy, the positive.

This prayer and the example that it gives is also one of the greatest challenges we humans face ... to face difficult times with strength and courage and not let adversity get the best of you.

Easier said than done. It’s a downright challenge.

When we turn on the television and see an innocent man being beheaded for no reason other than complete evil and hatred, how are we supposed to answer the challenge of St. Francis and sow some love?

When someone causes us injury through mental anguish, bullying, or through bodily hurts whether intentional or accidental, how are we supposed to pop right up and say, “Oh, no problem. Pardon you”?

When famous people like the sports figures in the news who are accused of domestic abuse, drug abuse or any other number of indiscretions, how do we find hope? Or when religious or political leaders who are charged with our trust in our faith lives and in our lives as citizens let us down in scandals, how do we release ourselves from being mired in doubt?

When a loved one dies too soon, especially a child, and our heart is quickly filled with darkness, sadness and despair, how can we climb out with a sense of hope or joy and find light without them?

This is one tough task from our friend St. Francis.

His prayer describes our faith I think. His prayer describes exactly what belief in God is. Our humanity assures us that at one time or another during this earthly journey, we will know some form of hatred, darkness, injury, doubt, sadness. And if you doubt that, just turn on the television for five minutes.

But faith in one God assures us that there is the flip side and part of our quest here is to find the love, light, joy, hope and give pardon.

There is no assurance that this will be easy.

The only way to rise to the challenge in the Prayer of St. Francis is to practice, practice, practice. Practice sowing love, and finding faith in doubt, hope in despair, joy in sadness, light in darkness and so on. I’ll take the challenge. Can you?

Try it at home, church, as you go to work, to the gym, when you read tweets, listen to the radio and watch TV. Take all those negative vibes and flip them around. See how much better your life journey and your faith in God can become by the time we celebrate the feast of St. Francis in a few weeks on Oct. 4.