I believe I am becoming a pacifist. I have always been uncomfortable with war and the pain and suffering it brings, but have thought that it was necessary at times. While I still think that for the most part, I am encountering material on pacifism. Right now I am reading “Passion for Peace” by Thomas Merton, a collection of social essays written during the Cold War. Maybe my draw towards pacifism may be a prayer of Francis of Assissi’s that I pray every other day:
Lord, make us instruments of your peace. Where there is hatred, let us sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is discord, union; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; where there is sadness, joy. Grant that we 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.
