The 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;

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.

Despite my Catholic high school upbringing, I am not a deeply religious person, though I do consider myself a spiritual person. This prayer is one that has stuck with me over the years and I like to think of it during difficult times in my life. I think it's important to have a moral center and a set of values for yourself that you always consider in your life, whether they be big decisions like forgiving your spouse after a fight or small ones like deciding not to be rude to the cashier at Wawa even though you're in a bad mood. Like I mentioned, I am far from being a good Catholic, and I will sometimes go months at a time before I think to pray, but when I do, it's usually a prayer like this, a prayer for strength, or humility, or patience, or peace. Regardless of where your particular spirituality lies, I think these are universal goals we can all strive for.