Thursday, June 17, 2010

Mother Teresa

Mother Teresa's name was much in the news this week, thanks to a controversial video by a popular singing artist.
She was one of the shining lights of the 20th century, the like of which, we possibly have not seen since St. Francis of Assisi.
Here is one of her most famous quotations:

Dear Jesus, help us to spread your fragrance (essence) everywhere we go. Flood our souls with your spirit and life. Penetrate and possess our whole being so utterly that our lives may only be a radiance of yours. Shine through us and be so in us that every soul we come in contact with may feel your presence in our soul. Let them look up and see no longer us but only Jesus. Stay with us and then we shall begin to shine as you shine, so to shine as to be a light to others. The light, O Jesus, will be all from you. None of it will be ours. It will be you shining on others through us. Let us thus praise you in the way you love best by shining on those around us. Let us preach you without preaching: not by words, but by our example, by the catching force, the sympathetic influence of what we do, the evident fullness of the love our hearts bear to you.

Amen.

Sparky

Tuesday, June 1, 2010

The Sneeze

They walked in tandem, each of the 92 students filing into the already crowded auditorium. With their rich maroon gowns flowing and traditional caps, they looked almost as grown up as they felt. Dads swallowed hard behind broad smiles, and Moms freely brushed away tears. This class would NOT pray during commencement, not by choice, but because of a recent court ruling prohibiting it. The principal and several students were careful to stay within the guidelines allowed by the ruling. They gave inspirational and challenging speeches, but no one mentioned divine guidance and no one asked for blessings on the graduates or their families. The speeches were nice, but they were routine until the final speech received a standing ovation. A solitary student walked proudly to the microphone. He stood still and silent for just a moment, and then it happened.
All 92 students, every single one of them, suddenly SNEEZED!
The student on stage simply looked at the audience and said,
GOD BLESS YOU!
And he walked off stage.
The audience exploded into applause. This graduating class had found a unique way to invoke God's blessing on their future with or without the court's approval.
Pass this on to all of your friends, and
GOD BLESS YOU!
This is a true story. It happened at Eastern Shore District High School in Musquodoboit Harbour, Nova Scotia, Canada.
Cheers,
Sparky