The violinist went on stage to play, Make Me An Instrument of Peace, a prayer of St. Francis of Assisi
which has since been put to music. I did
not have any idea why I chose that particular song to be played at our wedding
but now I understand. Today it is clear
it was meant to be prophetic instruction to speak into the ministry among
Muslims which Ed and I would embark on soon after that. The violinist started playing beautifully but halfway
through the sheet music accidentally got knocked off the piano ledge and fell to the floor.The performance stopped temporarily while
the pianist retrieved the music, got it set up again, and the musicians started it
over; this time successfully. Funny how
that awkward stumbling of the performance has always stuck in my mind. Maybe it
is because that is a picture of how real ministry sometimes goes. We start but soon may stumble. We start again and keep going. Nothing goes perfect in life
which includes ministry among Muslims for sure. Being a peacemaker is not easy. Sometimes I have stumbled in this area but I am determined to keep trying.
There have been many times over the decades where I have
encountered a hostile Muslim man who walks into a living room conversation I am
engaged in with his wife. Suddenly the air turns tense and foreboding. Peace
seems to disappear. Darkness sets in. I detect some antagonism in the man’s voice. Oh no! Lord, help, I inwardly pray. Please
make me an instrument of peace. Where there is hatred let me sow love. Where
there is darkness let me sow light. Such
times often occur after some sensitive political uprising in the world such as the recent attacks which followed the printing of the satirical cartoons of the Muslims’ prophet
Mohammed. Muslims have reacted strongly
and appear wounded and confused. When I find myself in their midst in this state it is amazing
how the Spirit can bring calm and even speak into these eruptions if I have
it as my goal to be an instrument of peace.
I join with St. Francis of Assisi in his prayer:
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….
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.
I join with St. Francis of Assisi in his prayer:
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….
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.
