St. Francis Day!

"Courage isn't the absence of despair and fear but the capacity to move ahead in spite of them."
Soren Kierkegaard, as quoted in "When the Heart Waits," by Sue Monk Kidd

This quote seems so perfect for the feast of St. Francis of Assisi! St. Francis, who didn't fear poverty and rejection, but embraced them for the sake of the Gospel. St. Francis, who even in his last days, while suffering terribly, sang to the Lord in pure joy. If we could all just have a little bit of St. Francis in our hearts; willing and eager to sing out for the love for God! Today, in celebration of St. Francis, hug your pet and sing a song of joy to God. Even if you don't think you can sing, God loves a joyful noise! Embrace the living, breathing world around you in nature, today. And, before you go to bed tonight, pray the prayer of St. Francis here below...

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. Amen