There are many horrible things happening in the world. This is not new. There have always been natural disasters that can destroy whole cities. Hurricane Katrina is evidence of that. As if the harshness of Mother Nature is not enough, there is the human factor. As long as humans have walked the earth, we have treated each other inhumanly.

I invite you to contemplate the prayer by Francis of Assisi. Read it now and let its wisdom envelop you.

Lord, make me an instrument of your 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 darkness, light;
and where there is sadness, joy;
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;
for it is in giving that we receive,
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.

It doesn't ask for help to feel better, to heal the pain that life causes. It doesn