Instrument of Thy Peace – Revised Edition
Author: Alan Paton
Publisher: The Seabury Press, paperback, 124 pages
Reviewed by Rev. Garth Wehrfritz-Hanson
The Author
Alan Paton was a South African Anglican layperson, author, teacher, and anti-apartheid social justice advocate.
Brief Observations
In his Preface, Paton begins with the following sentence: “This book is written for sinners, and by one of them” (p. 7). In addition to sinners—that includes, of course, everyone—he states: “I wrote also for those who are inclined to melancholy, for those who are inclined to withdraw rather than to participate...[rather than] the building of a more just order of society” (p. 7).
Paton wrote this volume, of his 21 meditations based on Francis of Assisi’s classic prayer, during the time when his wife of 39 years, Dorrie, was dying of emphysema. He believed: “I was given help to write it” (p. 8).
Each of the 21 meditations begins with a quotation often from Francis’s prayer or one or more biblical passages. However meditation 17 begins with four quotations from newspapers focussing on the 1967 black riots in several USA cities. In most of the meditations there are other quotations from a wide variety of people and sources, including: excerpts from The Little Flowers Of St Francis Of Assisi, John Bunyan, William Temple, Alexander Paterson, Dag Hammarskjold, Paul Tillich, Ralph Hodgson, Lancelot Andrews, Julian of Norwich, the “Desiderata” by Max Ehrmann, The Brothers Karamazov by Dostoyevsky, Reinhold Niebuhr, and several others. The meditations often end with a prayer by Paton, wherein he concludes with these or similar words: “And help me this coming day to do some work of peace for Thee” (p. 53).
In meditation 3, based on Francis’s petition: “Where there is hatred, let me sow love,” Paton provides readers with his commitment to social justice: “To be the instrument of God’s peace is not to confine oneself to the field of personal relationships, but to concern oneself also with the problems of human society, hunger, poverty, injustice, cruelty, exploitation, war” (p. 20). At the end of this meditation Paton prays this prayer, which highlights his faith, and complements his commitment to social justice, and how he was inspired and motivated by Francis’s petition: “Take all hate from my heart, O God, and teach me how to take it from the hearts of others. Open my eyes and show me what things in our society make it easy for hatred to flourish and hard for us to conquer it. Then help me to try to change these things. And so open my eyes and my ears that I may this coming day be able to do some work of peace for Thee” (p. 22).
Some of the meditations also contain contemporary anecdotes and insights born out of Paton’s own life experiences. For example, a friend of his who was overanxious could have been thankful for the blessings in her life, rather than being preoccupied with what might happen to her.
In a couple of meditations, Paton is very honest with his readers concerning the “sinner” part of himself. He admitted that he struggled with and fell short of Jesus’s teaching to love one’s enemies. When someone pointed out to him that as a Christian he could be more joyful, he admitted that there was more room in his life to grow more joyful.
Although some of the illustrations and contexts may be dated, others, even if dated, are as relative and instructive today as they were in Alan Paton’s day. This is a devotional classic that readers may wish to read periodically to discover insights and inspiration.
