The Holy Spirit ~ Sweeping our house empty!

The Guest House

This being human is a guest house.

Every morning a new arrival.

A joy, a depression, a meanness,

some momentary awareness comes

as an unexpected visitor.

Welcome and entertain them all!

Even if they are a crowd of sorrows,

who violently sweep your house

empty of its furniture,

still, treat each guest honorably.

He may be clearing you out

for some new delight.

The dark thought, the shame, the malice.

meet them at the door laughing and invite them in.

Be grateful for whatever comes.

because each has been sent

as a guide from beyond.

-- Jelaluddin Rumi,

    translation by Coleman Barks

Four - Fold Franciscan Blessing

From time to time, I use this blessing, that I first heard in Washington, DC at the Church of the Epiphany back in 2004.  I have a copy of it pasted in the back of my prayer book and I prayed it yesterday at the end of our service.  There are slightly different versions of it, but this is my favorite.

Some have argued that it's origin is likely more Benedictine than Franciscan, but, when I first discovered it, it was called a Four-Fold Franciscan Blessing, so that is what I call it.

Blessings!

Peter+

Four - Fold Franciscan Blessing

May God bless us with discomfort at easy answers,

half truths, and superficial relationships,

so that we may live deep within our hearts. Amen.

May God bless us with anger at injustice,
oppression, and exploitation of people
so that we may work for justice, freedom and peace. Amen.

May God bless us with tears to shed for those who suffer from pain,
rejection, starvation and war,
so that we may reach out your hand to comfort them
and to turn their pain into joy. Amen.

May God bless us with enough foolishness
to believe that we can make a difference in this world,
so that we can do what others claim cannot be done. Amen.

Congratulations to the Berkeley Preparatory School Class of 2014!

Congratulations to the Berkeley Preparatory School Class of 2014!

From the Tampa Bay Times

Graduation 2014: Berkeley Preparatory School
By Michael Newcomer, Sunday, June 1, 2014 5:54pm
BERKELEY PREPARATORY SCHOOL
NUMBER OF GRADUATES: 142
VALEDICTORIAN/SALUTATORIAN: Berkeley does not rank students.
SPEAKERS: Jay Majumdar (student forum president), Abigail Scott, George Pennington III, Kelley Sheets, Natalie Cramling (class president).
CLASS GIFT: The Class of 2014 raised almost $5,000, the majority to be donated to the Students Helping Students Scholarship Fund.
PRIVATE SCHOOL PUN: "I've had this recurring nightmare ... I was in a Tampa Prep class." — Majumdar, the welcome speaker.
CLASS SONG: Stay With Me, written by seniors Pennington and Natalie Yob. Michael Newcomer, Stony Brook University, tb-two* staff
Graduation 2014Brought to you by tb-two* — the Times' weekly newspaper and website produced by high school students during the school year. Check out our graduation stories and photos at tb-two.com and tampabay.com/education. Send us your graduation photos from Instagram and Twitter tagged #tbgrads2014.
Graduation 2014: Berkeley Preparatory School 06/01/14MICHAEL NEWCOMER | tb-two*Senior Abigail Scott recites the class poem Sunday during the commencement ceremony for Berkeley Preparatory School.
© 2014 Tampa Bay Times

With wings that big, why not fly!?

Incredible!

Reminds me of Daniel 3:79

Daniel 3:79-82

79  You sea monsters and all water creatures, bless the Lord;
praise and exalt him above all forever.

80 All you birds of the air, bless the Lord;
praise and exalt him above all forever.

81 All you beasts, wild and tame, bless the Lord;
praise and exalt him above all forever.

82 All you mortals, bless the Lord;
praise and exalt him above all forever.

Nice article on Berkeley Prep's Baseball player Dante Bostic

Nice article on the BPS Baseball team!

Berkeley Prep’s Bosnic serious about leadership role

Berkeley Prep pitcher Dante Bosnic has been a leader on a Bucs team that made it to state regionals. HANDOUT PHOTO

BY Jeff Berlinicke
Special Correspondent 
Published: May 6, 2014

TAMPA — With Berkeley Prep’s baseball season on the brink of disaster, Dante Bosnic knew someone had to stop the bleeding.

One of a small handful of seniors, Bosnic knew the team wasn’t done. It just needed a kick.

“As a club, I knew that we could not only win, but we could go far,” Bosnic said in the Berkeley Prep field house days after pitching the Bucs to a district championship. “We knew we could beat anybody.”

The Bucs came in as a young team and lost six of eight games during a rough stretch, but they matured just in time for a late-season charge.

“I knew we would struggle, but I also always knew we would get better,” Bosnic said. “We only had four seniors, but three of them were pitchers. Usually we only have two seniors in the lineup, so we had to learn and teach each other.”

Bosnic, who will be attending Ivy League Brown University next year, said he takes his role as a leader very seriously. He’s not an in-your-face leader, he said. Setting examples is what is important.

“When things go wrong, someone makes an error, yelling isn’t the right thing to do,” he said. “If someone makes an error they understand already that they did something wrong. It’s better to teach and be educational than to tell them what they did wrong when they already know that.”

Leading comes natural to Bosnic, who has an unweighted 4.0 grade-point average. Born in the Northeast, Bosnic has no problem dealing with the icy winters at Brown, located in Providence, R.I.. He plans to continue playing baseball at the school and wants to eventually end up in the health care administration field.

Bosnic isn’t harboring any great ambitions for professional baseball and is set on going to Brown, whether or not he receives an offer in June’s Major League Baseball draft. He has his sights set on things other than baseball.

His activities aren’t limited to the baseball diamond.

He does community service for St. Mary’s Catholic Church and was part of a project to send cards to veterans on Veteran’s Day. He also helps in sending cards to cheer up prisoners.

When he isn’t swinging a bat, he can be found perfecting his golf swing at TPC Tampa Bay.

And like any other high school student, he tries his best to make time for his friends.

“That’s the most important thing in my life, my friends,” Bosnic said. “I need my friends, and they make me a lot of what I am.”

As for Berkeley Prep’s run to the regionals, getting there has been half the battle.

The Bucs haven’t been that far during Bosnic’s time with the team and hasn’t won a state title in more than 30 years.