I recently found myself indignant over something a friend said and responded with angry words of my own.  Even as I spoke, my spiritual contentment and peace evaporated.  Then I turned to the Lord in my morning quiet time and asked what He would say to me. The gentle answer came as I felt impressed to invoke the prayer of St. Francis of Assisi:

• 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, love,
• Where there is darkness, light,
• And where there is sadness, joy.
• O Divine Master, 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.

Prayer: Yes, Lord, this is my prayer. Bring peace again to this relationship and true joy. Help me not injure my friend, but rather lift her spirit and self-image. Amen.