Jan 17, 2016

Prayer of St. Francis (15)

O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
To be consoled as to console

“Let us make one point,
That we meet each other with a smile,
When it is difficult to smile.”
                    Mother Teresa

We are starting on part two of the Prayer of St. Francis, where we look at what should be our response when we are subject of pain and suffering, physical and/or mental.

We are moving from the vantage point of walking into a situation of pain and sadness to being the one who has been hit between the eyes with an event that has broken us. How do we handle it? Do we wilt and suffer and demand that others fill us with a pain reliever of some type? That is not what this line of the Prayer of St. Francis states: it tells us to console others rather than seeking consolation. One of the best examples of this came when I watched my sister-in-law at the wake of her beloved husband, who had died rather quickly from cancer. They had a large family of 10 children, and at the wake she was the one going around to the children and consoling them. Her pain was breathtaking for their love was beautiful to behold, but she innately understood that by giving of herself she was moving beyond her own pain into the realm of God’s Love for those at this time, and her own pain would be overtaken by her love and concern for their children.

Life is full of points where we find ourselves in pain, for that is the nature of life. Persons we love transition into the next life; we lose a job; a family member becomes gravely ill; the house burns down; a serious auto accident injures a loved one; we could list many more where we are in the suffering realm as part of life. Our response to these events, coming from the viewpoint of God, are to be as the line states: “I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console”.

The question arises how do we move to the point where we will respond in such a manner that we can look at the pain of others and come to their aid, and not remain lost in our own personal whirlpool of Pain? That type of response does not happen out of the blue; it flows from the person we are. Part of the purpose of reciting the Prayer of St. Francis often is to let the type of person we become be a reflection of the prayer. To respond in this manner is the result of many years of thoughtful giving, usually responding to the first part of this prayer, to act as the source of the Love of God in difficult situations, so that when the time comes for us to act as according to the second part, when we are the ones in pain, it will flow naturally from our very being.

God gives us plenty of experiences living in both types of events, the one where we are to give all we have and the other where we both give and receive due to our pain at the time.

Next we will look at the benefits when we can move to that portion of the spectrum of becoming more God-like in our actions, being the face of God in all events.

“I slept and dreamed
that life is all joy.
I woke and saw
That life is all service.
I served.
And I saw that service is joy.”
                               Kahlil Gibran

Questions to Ponder

Have you found yourself in a situation of great pain and struggled to respond to all around you? How would you change your response if you could?
Do you see the visiting those who have lost much a burden or a gift? How would you react differently upon retrospect?

Meditation

“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 to self that we are born to eternal life.”

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