Bob, author of the blog Every Every Minute, recently initiated The Saint Francis Project. A project I gladly joined, give that it is an open invitation to reflect on the beautiful Prayer of Saint 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, hope;
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. Amen

This week, the subject is the first part of the prayer, that reflects on the way each and everyone of us can contribute to peace:
Where there is hatred, let me sow love.
Hatred, which is more than often closely related to fear. Each and every day we are confronted with prejudice, against people with a different religion, race, or colour of skin. Prejudice that is one of the main causes for fear, and with that, hatred. Unfortunately, it is so easy to follow the general opinion, the stereotypes the media confront us with, and to just believe what you've heard about (an entire group of!) people. Instead of forming your own opinion, and encountering each and every person with an open mind. See them for who they are, who they want to be, instead of the perceived traits of the group they belong to..

It never ceases to amaze me how this labelling can even take place on the level of small children, where this prejudice/intolerance is literally heartbreaking. Something that can break the spirit of a child, and with that, have a longlasting, divastating effect.. Personally, I've witnessed both my children having one specific classmate labelled 'bad', and 'nothing but trouble' by both the teaching staff and other parents. Young boys (from the same family), that more than any other kid in that class, were in desperate need of just that little bit of guidance, of someone seeing them for who they are. Or better yet maybe: seeing them for who they could be..
Next to that, a class full of children were taught that there is such a thing as a child that is 'nothing but trouble'. An ideal opportunity was missed to teach those children one of the main assets in life: Compassion.

Because to me, trying to 'sowing love where there is hatred', can be best accomplished by trying to be more compassionate. Be more open-minded and curious towards others. From an earlier post 'Trying to be More Compassionate':
Compassion is sometimes the fatal capacity for feeling what it is like to live inside somebody else's skin. It is the knowledge that there can never really be any peace and joy for me until there is peace and joy finally for you too. Frederick Buechner