I Am

Moses asked God

who he should tell the people

was sending him.

God’s reply was

“I AM.”

That’s sure a

Now God!

Helen Mallicoat

Writes

I was regretting the past and fearing the future.

Suddenly my Lord was speaking:

“My name is I Am”

He paused.

I waited.

He continued:

“ When you live in the past

with its mistakes and regrets,

it is hard.

I am not there.

My name is not

I Was.

When you live in the future,

with its problems and fears,

it is hard.

I am not there.

My name is not

I Will Be.

When you live in this moment

It is not hard.

I am here.

My name is
I Am.”

Christmas

GIFTED

To us, watchful and waiting,

a gift has been slipped into our midst.

A tiny child, born in a manger,

a gift of peace to troubled souls

and dangerous streets.

A gift of joy to sad hearts and cautious lives,

a gift of hope to wearied brows

and oppressed peoples.

A tiny child, gift of God.

Give your hearts: raise your songs.

Give thanks to the giver;

Welcome the gift.

Amen. (!)

Look for Christ

and you will find Him.

And with Him,

everything else.

C. S. Lewis

CHRISTMAS GIFT LIST

To your enemy - Forgiveness

To your opponent - Tolerance

To a friend - Your Heart

To a customer - Service

To all People - Love

To every child - Good Example

To yourself - Respect

Author Unknown

A Christmas Prayer

Gracious God, by the gift of your son, Jesus Christ,

you have revealed the love you bear for your whole creation

and opened to all the way of peace.

For Jesus's sake, make us bringers of peace

in our homes and among our extended family and friends.

Help ours be voices of reason and reconciliation in our neighborhoods,

our workplaces and our communities.

Strengthen us to reject every form of violence

as a means to get even or get ahead.

Help use use whatever influence we posses to promote peace

by working for justice and witnessing for Jesus .

Amen ( 2 )

( 1 ) Communications Resources, Inc.

Canton, Ohio

1994

( 2 ) Worship Bulletin

Demerest United Methodist Church

December 24, 1999

Effortlessly, Love Flows from God to Man

Effortlessly,

Love flows from God into man,

Like a bird

Who rivers the air

Without moving her wings.

Thus, we move into God's world,

One in body and soul,

Though outwardly separate in form.

As the Source strikes the note,

Humanity sings -

The Holy Spirit is our harpist,

And all strings

Which are touched in Love

Must sound.

Mechtild of Magdeburg

( 1207 - 1282 )

Advent Plea

O God, whose will is justice for the poor,

and peace for the afflicted,

Let your herald's urgent voice pierce our hardened hearts

and announce the dawn of your kingdom.

Before the advent of the One

who baptizes with the fire of the Holy Spirit,

let our complacency give way to conversion,

oppression to to justice,

and conflict to acceptance of of one another in Christ.

We ask this through the One whose coming is certain,

whose day draws near,

your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ,

who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,

one God, for ever and ever.

Amen

( Sacramentary, U.S.A.. 20th cent )

The United Methodist Book of Worship

Nashville, Tennessee

1992

Advent

ADVENT
                   GET READY

                                   GET SET

Look to the East.

The rising sun, our morning light,

chases away the night.

A voice cries out in the wilderness:

Make ready the way of the Lord!

Make a good path

so all may walk in beauty

with kind steps and happy hearts.

A voice cries out in the wilderness:

Make ready the way of the Lord.

Look, the rising sun,

the dawning of Fullness,

the advent of hope,

the beginning of peace.

Make a bright path.

Maranatha!

Come Lord Jesus!

adapted

Sourcebook of Worship resources

Communication Resources, Inc.

Canton, Ohio

1994

A Full Human Being

Yesterday I met a whole ( person ).

It is a rare experience

but always an illuminating and ennobling one

It costs so much

to be a full human being

that there are very few

who have the enlightenment or courage

to pay the full price.

One has to abandon all together

the search for security,

to reach out to the risk of living with both arms.

One has to embrace the world

like a lover,

and yet demand no easy return of love.

One has to accept pain

as a condition of existence.

One has to court doubt and darkness

as the cost of knowing.

One needs a will stubborn in conflict

but apt always

to the total acceptance

of every consequence

of living and dying.

Morris West

Shoes of the Fisherman

( novel )

Street Spirituality

" What A Hell Of A Mess  !!! "

" O Tempora, O Mores! "

That's Latin for

" What a hell of a mess! "

...more technically

" Oh the times! Oh the behaviors ! "

It was part of Cicero's rant

 deploring the viciousness and corruption

where he lived out on the streets of ancient Rome.

Well, out on the streets where we live right now

there's all sorts of ranting,

deploring the chaos and conflict  

of our socio/political/religious neighborhood.

Some tell us to hang a hard Right.

Others tell us to take a sharp Left.  

The worse it gets, the worse it gets!  

It scares the Bee Jee Bers out of us.

What's going to happen to us, 

and for that matter,

who is " us " ?

Jesus sure got it right:

" My kingdom is not of this world."

John 15:19

Paul sure got it right:

" For here we do not have an enduring city,

but we are looking for the city to come. "

Hebrews 13:14

The " seer who spoke "

in Revelations  sure got it right 

about the evils of Empire.

See Revelation 18:1-3

 Mess, Empire, Vicious, Corruption, Hard Right, Sharp Left

 EXILE.   

What happened ?

Well all sorts  of currents collided.

To switch metaphors,

it seems that in the last forty/fifty years

numerous maladies infected the 

Body America:

out of control " ME-ism ",

unabsorbed social and demographic shifts,

rampant materialism,

unquestioned militarism,

addictive and unfocused social media,

profoundly deep rooted and unresolved racism,

confusing globalization,

just for starters. 

Racist fury at the election of a black president

and the knifing of the recent election process

lanced our American Malignancy.

All sordid sorts of vicious puss  exploded,

deranging our inner selves

and rupturing our shared self.

We got what WE GOT!!!

Like the ancient Israelites, 

we messed up big time 

and ended up in a real exile

except we didn't have to drive to Babylon for it!

So, what sort of Street Spirituality  is possible

out here on Exile Street?

Well, those ancient and exiled Israelites       

can be something of a GPS for us

as we try to navigate life

on and out of Exile Street.

The first thing they did was notice what happened.

Not nice!!!  

Pain!

So, they sat down and wept ( Psalm 137: 1 ).

Recognition and remorse.

The pain of exile,

and it sure hurt,

woke them up,

purified them,

clarified and eventually redirected them.

The pain of exile can do the same for us: 

awaken,

purify, 

clarify,

redirect us.

                                        

Individually and collectively 

we need to do real   

SOUL STRETCH.

The exiled Israelites did that,   

they went deep and wide.

They heard and heeded prophetic leads

like Isaiah and Jeremiah.

They pondered.

They did Soul Share.

They pulled together.

Eventually they got off Exile Street

and on their way home and a fresh start.

We can, too!

Future blogs will offer guides 

form our rich traditions for our needful times.

Hang on!

There's hope, 

a hard hope, but a real hope!!

Thanks for considering all this.

John Frank

Mystic on Maturity

" When one reaches the highest degree of human maturity,

one has only one question left: How can I be Helpful? "

Therea of Avila

To Know, Or Not To Know.

That's Sure A Big Question.

"We're not meant to know everything about other people, 

even those who are closest to us, 

and we have to accept at the end of the day

that not all mysteries are solvable."

Scandalous Risks, novel, by Susan Howatch, Knoph, p.631

Love

" Love must act

as light must shine

and fire must burn."

Rule of Life

Order of the Holy Cross

Episcopal

Contemplation

"Contemplation
is the end of loneliness
because it erases
the separateness between
seer and seen."


Richard Rohr
daily email
8 November 2016
Center for Action and Contemplation

Aging

Aging:
           The Experience
                                    and Spirituality
                                                            of diminishing
                                                                                   into Fullness.

Reflections on John 1:1 - 5

In the beginning was the Word,

and the Word was with God, 

and the Word was God. 

He was in the beginning with God. 

All things came into being through him, 

and without him not one thing came into being. 

What has come into being in him was life, 

and the life was the light of all people. 

The light shines in the darkness, 

and the darkness did not overcome it.
John 1:1-5

Word Work  

The Word

God person spoken

Innerness

deep downess shared

Outgiving maker

creation speaking

Depth distance

free flung flow

Love language lavish

Yes

What's Going On Here?

What's Going On Here?

or

"frankly speaking"

What and Why

Well, after you scope out " frankly speaking, "

you'll have your own take on that, 

and that's the one that counts.

As the guy at this end of " frankly speaking "

( the Frank in " frankly speaking " ),

here's my take on what's going on here.

I'm in the last lap of earth life,

smart enough to know that 

I don't know a hell of a lot,

and wise enough to to recognize

that that I sure as heaven 

do have a few things  to share.

And " share " is the

motivation, manner and motif here.

It goes with the turf of old age -

you want to see the kids

( of whatever  chronological age ) make it , 

so give 'em the best you've got.

So, for starters,

here's where I start and hopefully end: 

my home base is Christian.

I love it!

I do not at all like what 

too many church people 

have done to it , though!!

I also love to learn and share

with folks based in other

faiths, ways and persuasions.

After all, we are all together

on life's street, a stretch 

dreadful, ecstatic, boring,

painful, creative, conflicted, 

joy filled and endlessly more.

We all out here together 

trying to get somewhere,

somewhere beautiful and good - 

heaven, Nirvana,  the Omega Point,

Cosmic Oneness - 

lots of names for pretty much the same thing.

So, " frankly speaking " tries to offer

some sharings to help us make it

out here on  life's street

as it really is, and as we really are ( so far ):

sweaty and sweet, acne, mortgages,

beautiful babies, the grind at work,

noble souls, profound and puny politicians,

in laws and out laws,

hugging trees,

caring for every bit of of creation,

trying to find someone to love

and have a life with,

seeking to dial into a

really good way to wrap up

earth life's last enning.

Between here and there, 

having a zippy, zesty, flat out,

go for broke, high octane spirit -

a spirituality for the street.

There is no pretense or promise here 

of absolute truth,

of reality nailed tight,

just sharings in the hope of energized spirits

for life out here on life's street.

The bias underneath and throughout

everything here is,

in the words and way of my tradition,

unleashed and limitless love -  

" God is love " ( 1 John 4:8 ) and

" Blessed are those invited 

to the wedding  supper of the Lamb! " ( Revelation 19: 9 ).

So, let's party!

Let's make love,

better yet,

let's let Love make us!

Thanks for being part of all this.

John Frank