Love: Giving and Accepting

I was reading a book today and I came across the prayer of St. Francis.

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;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
and 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,
and it is in dying that we are born to Eternal Life.
Amen.

This prayer is so powerful. It asks not only for strength, but it asks for God to let us be a force. A force of peace, love, forgiveness, faith, hope, light, and joy. Then, the prayer asks to seek to help others...to put others first. Because in all these things, we are still receiving.

There is still this other side though...of love. Accepting. This can be a multitude of things, which I will hopefully expand on this weekend. Out of time. :(

Stay well, all.