Knowing when to speak and when to stay silent has become tricky for me. I want to be a person who spreads hope and peace. I also want to be a person who speaks for those who have no voice. I’m finding myself stuck in many situations.
This prayer of peace attributed to Saint Francis of Assisi is the person I want to be.
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.
Then I read this prayer of disturbance from an unknown author. I want to be this too. I want to know when to speak for those who are silenced.
Lord, make me a channel of disturbance. Where there is apathy, let me provoke; Where there is compliance, let me bring questioning. Where there is silence, may I be a voice. Where there is too much comfort and too little action, grant disruption. Where there are doors closed and hearts locked, Grant the willingness to listen. When laws dictate and pain is overlooked…When tradition speaks louder than need…Grant that I may seek rather to do justice than to talk about it; Disturb us, O Lord. To be with, as well as for, the alienated; To love the unlovable as well as the lovely; Lord, make me a channel of disturbance.
This prayer gives me courage to do what is hard for me. It is hard for me to stand up for what is right, for what scripture calls me to. Discernment is hard. Even the Apostles struggled with making the best decision.
6-9 The apostles and leaders called a special meeting to consider the matter. The arguments went on and on, back and forth, getting more and more heated. Then Peter took the floor: “Friends, you well know that from early on God made it quite plain that he wanted the pagans to hear the Message of this good news and embrace it—and not in any secondhand or roundabout way, but firsthand, straight from my mouth. And God, who can’t be fooled by any pretense on our part but always knows a person’s thoughts, gave them the Holy Spirit exactly as he gave him to us. He treated the outsiders exactly as he treated us, beginning at the very center of who they were and working from that center outward, cleaning up their lives as they trusted and believed him. (Acts 15: 6-9 MSG)
It is easier for me to choose hope and peace than to speak out against a wrong. I’m practicing leaning into the Holy Spirit’s direction and seeking the counsel of friends who are also trying to discern when to speak. I am also reading these prayers on repeat for continued grounding and courage to be a voice used by the Holy Spirit.
How about you? Do you know when to speak? How do discern what is best? Share your story here and breathe life and bring hope to others.