Compass & Quill

Chip Coffey posted this tonight on Facebook, and since this prayer is one of my favorite inspirational sayings of all time, I thought I’d repost here. As you know, I love St. Francis. I also love WWII history, and am a big fan of “Band of Brothers,” both the book and the TV miniseries. If you’ve watched the miniseries, you might remember the episode “Bastogne,” which highlights the company medic, Eugene Roe. It’s probably my favorite episode of the series, since the book doesn’t talk that much about Eugene, and it’s interesting to get an idea of what life was like for him as the medic.

The core of his duty as medic was to run towards the gunfire, into the explosions, straight for the bleeding and dying. He offered solace, companionship, help, a hand, a shoulder, a bandage, maybe some morphine in a very bad situation. The company medic is the face of hope for a wounded man, and it was interesting to see how he dealt with this incredible weight. In the episode, he calms himself by quoting a snippet St. Francis’ Peace Prayer: “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.”

My heart clung to that saying, though it was years before I figured out where it came from. The rest of the prayer is just as great, and can be easily adapted to any religion (or lack of). It’s time for me to hit the hay. Hope that your new week starts with light and love, and you’re able to follow that thread all the way through to next weekend.