Eknath Easwaran's book Passage Meditation suggests the Prayer of Francis of Assisi as a suitable Spiritual text with which to begin the study and practice of Passage Meditation. I have to agree that it is a good choice. It expresses sentiments which extend way beyond the Christian origins of the text.
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; 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.
I prefer to rearrange the middle verse, as I find the grammar of the original harder to parse than it needs to be, and this additional level of difficulty distracts from the content of the prayer. Thus
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; where there is sadness, joy.
Seek to console rather than to be consoled, to understand rather than to be understood, to love rather than to be loved.
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.
Also, when meditating on an individual line, I insert some words that are implicit in the original, thus:
Let me be an instrument of your peace. Where there is hatred, let me sow love. Where there is injury, let me give pardon. Where there is doubt, let me inspire faith. Where there is despair, let me offer hope. Where there is darkness, let me shine light. Where there is sadness, let me bring joy.
Seek to console rather than to be consoled, Seek to understand rather than to be understood. Seek to love rather than to be loved.
It is in giving that we receive. It is in pardoning that we are pardoned. It is in dying that we are born to eternal life.
And it is in this form that I internalise the content of the prayer. When I need it most, I cannot hope to hold the whole of it in Mind at once, hence to have it in separate, grammatically self-contained sentences which can each be meditated on separately, or combined in sequence.
Indeed with the exception of the last line, which ties in strongly with the Christian Gospel, the Resurrection of Christ, and the Promise Of Life Everlasting, the rest of it are suitable for people of all faiths and none as things to be aspired to. If you don't aspire to these, what kind of human are you? If you don't wish to transcend your selfish animal nature to be a Loving member of the Human race, then you are not just a slave to your inner selfish animal, but you become your inner selfish animal. It is the destiny of true Spiritual seekers to transcend this selfish nature so as to be Loving, Caring, Compassionate and Giving, rather than Selfish and Greedy.