Lord, make me a channel of thy peace

That where there is hatred, I may bring love

That where there is wrong, I may bring the spirit of forgiveness

That where there is discord, I may bring harmony

That where there is error, I may bring truth

That where there is doubt, I may bring faith

That where there is despair, I may bring hope

That where there are shadows, I may bring light

That where there is sadness, I may bring joy.

Lord, grant that I may seek rather to comfort than to be comforted

To understand, than to be understood

To love, than to be loved.

For it is by self- forgetting that one finds.

It is by forgiving that one is forgiven.

It is by dying that one awakens to Eternal Life.

My life had started to unfold since I came to AA three years ago. I had worked my way through the steps, had started a new job, had rebuilt ties with my family and was considering the notion of starting a relationship. However, I was still full of fear, hyper sensitive, over analytic and quite frankly a bit lost. I had experienced some peace in the previous three years but as life filled up I found myself less and less able to access it.

Hence, I was forced back into the steps, and in particular step eleven. I had to try something and as a recovering alcoholic this was the logical place to begin.

Anyway, as I reengaged with step we eleven I rediscovered this wonderful prayer. Interestingly, it was only then, that it really hit home. I had read Step eleven many times in the past, but for some reason now I was ready to listen.

I looked on the prayer with different eyes. It was so beautiful and simple and graceful that just repeating it slowly to myself, the quiet rhythm, the simple truths, the gentle message seemed to penetrate deep inside me. Any outside noise, uploaded from my hectic life seemed to fall away. It seemed to dissolve and in its place was a quiet peace, a renewed understanding as to what is important in life and what has real meaning.

And who can blame me? The prayer is so beautiful. It implores us ever so gently to settle down. To remember that we are but agents of a higher power and our remit is to do our best. To be kind, to be generous, to be thoughtful. To be gentle and selfless. To help make the world a better place.

How could I honestly feel comfortable about taking sides at a dispute at work when St. Francis urges me to promote harmony over discord. Or how could I continue to feel concern about my ability to deliver a project within deadline when St. Francis implores us to replace faith with doubt. And how could I consider myself to be of utmost importance when he suggests that self-forgetting is the key.

The power of this prayer is the complete rebasing of all things important. Faith over fear, love over hate, and selflessness over selfishness are the key messages and when I am reminded of them I am earthed ever so quickly. Nothing is important more, the high stakes become low stakes, the noise becomes peace.

This is why I got sober, to enjoy the peace that comes with it and without St. Francis and his extraordinary prayer that peace would be that little bit harder to attain.