Trauma Headquarters and ADSG

Wanted to share this encouragement...

Alan Paton says,"I wish to place on record that I am in unrepayable debt to Francis of Assisi."
Why would this champion of the oppressed in apartheid South Africa say that? "When I pray his prayer, or even remember it," Paton explains, "my melancholy is dispelled, my self-pity comes to an end, my faith is restored, because of this majestic conception of what the work of a disciple should be."
For most of us, the prayer of St. Francis is familiar: "Lord, make me an instrument of thy peace.". Paton, facing challenges beyond most of ours, found it not just familiar but life changing.
"So majestic is this conception," he testifies,"that one dare to no longer be sorry for oneself.  This world ceases to be one's enemy.  Life is no longer nasty, mean, brutish, and short, but the time one needs to make it less nasty and mean.   We are brought back instantly t the reality of us faith, that we are not passive recipients but active instruments."

That is beautiful, Hope.   As a fan of both St. Francis and Alan Paton, I can only agree.   "We are brought back instantly to the reality of our faith, that we are not passive recipients but active instruments."