SURRENDER

Dear All of Us,

Bet you that the most unpopular hymn ever is
      
              "I Surrender All".

Hey, real men never surrender.

Red blooded Americans certainly don't.

To surrender is to wimp out.

To surrender "all" is a total wipe out.


As a kid back in the 40's, 

(no, not the 1840's, the 1940's!!)

when we boys would rough house

it meant taking a guy down,

pin him and make him give.

If needs be, twist whatever parts were available 

to get him to surrender.

Boy brutal.



Well, now after all that, let's see if I can sell surrender.

It'll be like selling a week at a ballet school to Hulk Hogan,

or a Toyota Prius to Jeff Bezos.

Actually, it'll be even harder than that.

Well, here goes!




I want to ask each of us to indeed 

            "surrender all" 

                to God.

That's counter cultural for sure and more.

It negates power and pride.

They are the two false gods

dictating and directing 

so sadly much of who and how we are,

and how all that gets lived out in our current cultures.




"Surrendering all"

      to God 

does not mean

a negative giving up.

It does not mean

to wimp out,

to wipe out totally,

to cave and cringe

before God.

It's means exactly the opposite.

In the best possible way it means

to give "up" to God

all we are and have.

It means accepting God's invitation 

to merger and expansion,

to Oneness in and with God. 




The word surrender in its roots says it well.

It comes from the Old French:

             sur = over

             rendere = give back.

Thus, to give over, to give back.



We give over, give back to God

for complete inclusion in God

what God has given us - ourselves:

       our limitedness for God's infiniteness,

       our partial for God's total.

It's like a candle accepting the invitation

to become one with the sun.

Holy Surrender is letting go the limited for the Limitless.

That's a negation opening to affirmation of fullness.




What do the everyday, practical, personal, social,

the "out here on the street of life" implications of such surrender look like?:

      - we stop going our own way, trying to fit God 

        into it somehow or other every once in a while

      - we go the way of Jesus, he who is 

        God Obvious, God Human,

        our life coach and model - we recognize and accept him as

       "the way, the truth, and the life" (John14:6) -

        we welcome his presence in us -

        "Abide in me as I abide in you."(John 15;4) - 

        we live out that presence 

        in all the particular and practical "nows" of life -

        everything is involved:

        how we drive, eat, work, relate, spend, save, recreate, 

        help, forgive, dress, cook supper - Everything!! -

        " I live now not I, but Christ lives in me." (Galatians 2: 20).

      - we live the Beatitudes ( Matthew 5:1-11), not just reference them

        as a vague and distant, "maybe some day" ideal -

        living the Beatitudes gets us practical and personal about 

        simplicity, possessions, getting righted with Reality (righteousness),  

        being peace-filled and giving, living out a pure clarity of mind and heart, 

        taking it easy on others,  suffering social, financial,

        and other hits for all this.

      - one way and multiples of many, 

        we welcome the Love Energy that is God 

        to be the thrust of all we are and do - all the time 

        and in every way possible.

      - we  "...love God, neighbor, self" 

        with all we've got (Mark 12:28-31):

        we love our bodies and personalities 

        (for me that means it's not only ok to be an introvert,

        in fact it's one heaven of a privilege),

        we love the beautiful people in our lives and every bit as much 

        we love the difficult, unattractive people in our lives, 

        we love God by caring for God's creation, 

        we go to a quiet space 

        and open enfoldment in God's embrace - 

        we really are "In" Love.



Perhaps the hymn " I Surrender All " deserves another sing.

In any case, the best thing we can do with ourselves

is give ourselves completely to God. 

That means we live a hymn that lets God "sur"  "rendere" us One,

we surrender ( give over, give back) ourselves 

to God's infinite embrace and inclusion.

To surrender is paradoxically to "up grade".

Paul put it like this:

     "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, 

       that one is a new creation.
   
       The old has passed away, 

       behold, the new has come."

           (II Corinthians 5:17) 



    Thanks for your good company.

 May we all surrender into the upgrade.

           Holding us all in

       The Love Who Is God.

             John Frank

                *****



Greetings and a warm welcome 

to all those joining in here 

for the first time.

We have been blessed this week

with first time participation from Rwanda,

and significant increase in participation

from Russia.

It's a privilege to have your company.


         "frankly speaking"

      spirituality for the street

   is posted Thursday evenings,

        east coast USA time

  (johnfrankshares.blogspot.com)

and is available by automatic email

each Friday ( Sign Up top above)


        See You Next Week!!!


___________________________________________________