Grant that I May Never Seek (10/11/2021)

[Seventh article in a series on living Christ daily through the prescripts of the Peace Prayer]

“Oh, Master, grant that I may never seek so much to be consoled as to console, to be understood as to understand, to be loved as to love.” The principle of selflessness and the willingness to seek the well-fare and well-being of others is not promoted much these days. Instead, we are bombarded with a plethora of ways to indulge ourselves. Taking care of ourselves is required by our LORD who commands us to love others as ourselves which implies love of self is part of the divine will. Love of self and love of others is not an either/or but rather a both/and.

Recognizing the LORD’s love for us allows us to see our dignity, God-given, and to seek what is right in our relationships with the LORD and others always. The ever-flowing love of the LORD in our life fills us and sends us outward, allows us to minister to others in need, encourages us to companion those who are also on the way or even temporarily lost. This love, witnessed by us in Christ’s self-sacrifice of love for us to defeat sin and death, give us the courage to sacrifice in His name, as his followers, for the well-being of others whom He also died to save. We’re in this together. We are one humanity. We are one Body of Christ.

When we see another in need, we respond, without thought of self or rewards. That is the point of this portion of the Peace Prayer, to think of the other and their needs for we know in our mind and hearts that the LORD has consoled and will console us, that the LORD understands our needs, sufferings, and hopes, and that the LORD loves us. This knowledge is a blessing that allows up to respond to the needs of others.

When we encounter one who needs consolation, we stop and we seek to minister to them. When we are in a conversation with another who is seeking affirmation that their position or plight is understood, we affirm their dignity by listening and seeking to understand their situation and supporting them, if possible. We seek to love everyone whom we encounter with the love of Christ, showing them respect and seeking their well-being in the moment.

We seek to be as present to those whose paths we cross as Christ is to us through his love and his ever-present Spirit. And in doing so, we hope that we might be instruments of the LORD’s peace by bringing Christ into the moment.

Until tomorrow, love well.