Give What We Seek

A powerful aspect of living a spiritual life is that our souls discover truths that sometimes go against the logic of our minds. One such truth is that the fastest way to get what we want emotionally is to first give what we desire to others and to get what we want materially we must help others to get it. By giving what we seek we create goodwill that is eventually returned to us. With this goodwill also comes gifts we perhaps didn't know we wanted.

To help focus our attention on giving what we seek, the following prayer from St. Francis of Assisi can be used as a reminder of "right thoughts" and "right actions."

God, make me an instrument of thy peace,
That where there is hatred, I may bring love,
That where there is wrong, I may bring the spirit of forgiveness,
That where there is discord, I may bring harmony,
That where there is error, I may bring truth,
That where there is doubt, I may bring faith,
That where there is despair, I may bring hope,
That where there are shadows, I may bring light,
That where there is sadness, I may bring joy.

God, grant that I may seek rather to comfort than to be comforted,
To understand than to be understood,
To love than to be loved.

For it is by self-forgetting that one finds.
It is by forgiving that one is forgiven.
It is by the old self dying that one awakens to a new life.