Be Open to Love

​I would not want to be so entangled in willful ignorance that I could not find the path to wisdom. I would not want to be so blinded by the darkness of intolerance that I could not find the light of acceptance. I would not want to be so committed to hate, that I am unable to open my heart to love. In writing these words, it occurred to me that there is a well-known prayer that also speaks of these ideas:
 
Prayer of St. Francis
 
Lord, make me an instrument of thy 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 sadness, joy;
where there is darkness, light.
O Divine one, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console;
not so much to be understood, as to understand;
not so much to be loved, as to love.
For it is in the giving that we receive.
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned
It is in dying that we are born again to eternal life.