March Blog Post

With the war in Ukraine and Vladimir Putin’s decision to heighten the nuclear threat, our thoughts are often turning to the painful realities of war. Many of us feel helpless to impact huge international conflicts, though we can’t help wondering whether there is more we can do. In these moments it can help to turn to spiritual writers and inspirational leaders to seek advice for our own response.

Vicktor Frankl, whose moving account of his experiences and the meaning he discovered during his imprisonment in Auschwitz, wrote, “When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves.” Peace Pilgrim, who gave up her home and possessions to walk for 28 years, talking with others about peace, said “The way of peace is the way of love. Love is the greatest power on earth. It conquers all things”. Etty Hillesum, a Dutch author whose spiritual diaries were published after her death in Auschwitz at age 29, wrote “Ultimately, we have just one moral duty: to reclaim large areas of peace in ourselves, more and more peace, and to reflect it towards others. And the more peace there is in us, the more peace there will be in our troubled world.” If we believe the words and examples of these inspiring lives, each of us is called, in moments such as we are currently living through, to resolve our inner conflicts and focus on internal change. Each of them encourages us to expand and bring forth peace in our own hearts, so that we can impact our families and our communities for the good.

Sometimes the advice to look within comes with few details about how, exactly, to effect external impact from internalchange. Those who are familiar with the Prayer of St. Francis of Assisi may already recognize the prayer as a blueprint for such action. Francis prays to become a conduit of peace to a troubled world, to model peace through his daily interactions: 

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.
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.

Love, forgiveness, hope, consolation, understanding and joy – offering these gifts to our world through our daily interactions may feel small in the face of war and suffering. But if, like St. Francis, you can work to bring these humble gifts forward despite your own anxieties, fears, and grief – that is definitely something. And it will have an impact.

-Jenifer Hanson, Director at Prairiewoods