LENT II: "IT'S A SIN"

Dear All of Us,

"It's a sin!"
"Oh yah? Says who?"

That's society's seesaw sin say.
Because of it, 
sorting out just what is sin 
can really conflict and foul up 
our spiritual living,
individually and collectively.
Sin there is, but what is sinful?
Without getting sin centered, 
we nevertheless want to be sinless.
Once we get past the "Biggies" - 
things like murder, theft, 
lying, hedonism, racism, adultery -
there has always been a lot 
of that conflicting, confusing 
                          
     "seesaw sin say".

Ancient Egyptian religion 
considered masturbation a sacred experience.
The Roman part of the Church calls it a mortal sin.
So are just about all the teenage boys 
in the world going to heaven or hell?

In ancient Israel it was "an abomination" 
to eat any sort of shell fish.
So is that it for oysters, clams 
and a shrimp cocktail, 
to say nothing of the 
fishing industry, 
the annual blessing of the fleet 
and church fish fries?

For centuries the Christian Church 
insisted that it was gravely evil
to engage in usury.
Is everyone involved 
in the Vatican Bank, on Wall Street
and working at the local bank 
earning their way to damnation?

Things like these have caused confusion 
and even dismissal and denial of sin.
Yet, this sin stuff is serious.
It gets in the way of sanctity.
It is life disturbing.
So we address it.
It's like driving.
We want to make sure 
we get where we're going, 
not end up in a ditch.

Well, it's Lent, 
and like Jesus' public ministry, 
both start off with 
      
   "Repent and believe the good news"

 ( Mark 1:15 and The Imposition of Ashes )

That's not meant to be a guilt trip.
It is meant to face the mess - 
personal and social - 
and get it cleaned up.

It is meant to be an invitation 
to turn away from the negative 
and toward the positive,
from the unreal to the real,
personal and social.

It's meant to call us to be spot on, 
not way off base, personally and collectively.

To repent means to turn away from sin 
and turn toward an amendment of life.
It means to correct course and get going right on. 

The Latin root for repent is "poenitentia" - 
regret and reform. 
It means we lament the errors of our ways 
and determine to reconfigure.   
It's all really positive and promising.

The ancient Israelites understood sin 
as going astray, losing our way - "hata".
Christian scriptures understand sin as 
missing the mark - "hamaritia".
By whatever name they mean being a loser.
We don't want to be.
So it's not only ok, 
it's good to see sin and repent.

During this season of repentance 
we pray and ponder.
Being acutely candid and specific 
we consider, we name:

         What is it in my living these days
         that that causes me to loose my way?

         What is it in my living these days 
         that causes me to miss the mark?

         What is it in our shared, 
         our social living that causes us as a people 
         to loose our way, to miss the mark?
       
         What do I and we need to do 
         to be on course, to hit the mark?

All this praying and pondering 
we do in good company, 
empowered by the very Spirit of Jesus:
    
    " I have come not to call 
      the righteous but sinners."
                                         ( Mark 2:17 )
    
     " I am the way, the truth, and the life."
                                         ( John14:6 )

     "I have come that you might have life 
      and have it to the full."
                                         ( John 10:10 )




           We're sinners sought.
           We're offered a saving from sin.

    "Repent and believe the good news."
           

        It's a call and caller we sure want to take.

                 Praying for all of us this 

                     Turn Around Time.

                         John Frank

                             *****

  



        LENTEN MEDITATION

     We pray over and ponder. 
     We ask what is being shared here.
     We see how it is and can be with us.

"For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus 
 has set you free from the law of sin and death." 
                                        ( Romans 8:2 )

"And the testimony is this, 
 that God has given us eternal life,
 and this life is in His Son."  
                                         ( I John 5:11 )
"So then as through one transgression 
there resulted condemnation to all men,   
so through one act of righteousness 
there resulted justification of life to all men."  
                                          ( Romans 5:18  )
( Are Adan and Eve's transgression 
  a type/symbol of all error and sin?)

"In Him was life, 
  and the life was the Light of men."   
                                           ( John 1:4 )
"For as in Adam all have died, 
 so also in Christ all will be made alive."  
                                            ( I Corinthians 15:22 )

                              *****

A warm welcome to all joining us for the first time. 
                    Good to be together!

                        "frankly speaking"
                    spirituality for the street

  Is posted each Thursday evening, east cost USA time
               johnfrankshares.blogspot.com
  Is available by automatic email delivery each Friday
                   sign up online edition
  Past postings available at Blog Archive, online edition

    LOOKING FORWARD TO SEEING YOU NEXT WEEK !!

                               *****

                    
                            

LENT I: SOUL SPRING

Dear All of Us,

So just how hot to trot are you when it comes to Lent?
Let's be honest here.
I mean, come on already!  
            sermons on sin every Sunday, 
            ponying up alms for the poor, 
            fasting,
            fish on Fridays, 
            Stations of the Cross,
            giving up candy, TV, wine or sex 
                          (ok!!, ok!! -  I'll put you down for candy).
A lot of folks see Lent as something of a spiritual boot camp
and would rather just not enlist.
On a preference scale of Christian seasons and experiences 
Lent places dead last.
Definitely not a fun thing!

Yes, but!
How about this?
What do you say we have a go 
at seeing Lent in a new, a renewing way -
seeing it again for the first time?
Something like this.

Lent is similar to Spring Cleaning -
may not be a barrel of fun,
but does it ever spruce things up,
freshens and clears for 
a new season of zesty living - a
               Soul Spring.

Lent begins in the dark chill of winter
and warms to Spring brightness.
In Lent we deal with the "darkeners" of our living,
the decadent, the dreadful, the dirty.
We let them be swept away. 
We open wide the windows of self
and inflows a bright, cleansing, invigorating new atmosphere.
Things sure do Lighten/Brighten Up.

Lent starts with a symbol of death and decay
and concludes with a symbol of fresh new life -
                  ashes to lilies,
     Ash Wednesday to Easter Sunday, 
       death to unending resurrection.

Lent has a timeline of forty days and forty nights.
As a matter of fact the name Lent 
comes from the root of length (lent-gth).
As the daylight lengthens our living lightens up. 

Lent's timeline of forty days and forty nights
tells of the time it takes to get it right - 
sometimes a long time.
The chosen people sure took a lot of time to get it right
and get to a right good place,
to a land flowing with milk and honey.
The "chosen" chose badly lots of lots.
They got nowhere fast for forty years 
with a ton of frustrating desert dead ends.

I can relate!!
How about you?

Lent's timeline of forty days and nights
tells of the time it takes to prove out positive.
Jesus was out in a difficult desert 
for forty days and nights.
He was tempted not to be who he is,
to trade his promise for a pot of porridge.
He wrestled with the three lures to limit - 
the prevention of 
               pleasure, power, possessions.

I can relate!
How about you? 

We begin Lent with something very much on our minds, literally.
A black cross smudged across our foreheads.
We're marked men and women.
We go public admitting death and decay in us and among us,
signaling failed life as individuals and as a society.
Not nice, but true.

I can relate.
How about you?

We're reminded that we come from dirt and that's where we'll end up.
These earth years are just that - earthy.
           
      "Remember you are dust and unto dust you will return."
                             Genesis 3:19

The question is what are we doing with our earthiness.
We're invited not to let things end there.
            
            "Repent, and believe the good news."
                              Mark 1:15

Reject a dead end by believing the good news.
And believing is not a matter of notional assent.

Believing is a living acceptance of God offered life.

Believing is to "be - life - ing" in Christ:
          
           "For as in Adam - 
            ("Adam" in Hebrew means "dirt") -
            all have died,
            so also in Christ all will be made alive."
                            I Corinthians 15: 22
         
            "I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, 
             but it is Christ who lives in me.
             And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God
             who loved me and gave himself for me."
                             Galatians  2:19 -20

I sure want to relate.
How about you?



Hopefully we all can see Lent in a new, refreshing way.
Hopefully we all will admit the dark and embrace the light. 
Hopefully we all will "Repent and "be- life" the good news.

Oh yes,
Rest assured.
I haven't forgotten.
You're definitely down for candy!!!

                                   May this Lent 

                                                        be a

                      a season of freeing and renewing, a

                                 SOUL SPRING.  

                                  John Frank

                                    *****


                SOME LENTEN MEDITATION STARTERS


In a time and place of calm quiet we select a scripture and consider:

                        - what is the revelation here

                        - what does it say in itself

                        - what does it say to my living

                        - what does it say to our shared living as a people




                     " For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus 

                       has set you free from the law of sin and death."

                                                                          Romans 8:2


                     " And the testimony is this, 

                       that God has given us eternal life, 

                       and this life is in His Son."

                                                                          I John 5:11


                     " So then as through one transgression 

                       there resulted condemnation to all men, 

                       even so through one act of righteousness 

                       there resulted justification of life to all men."

                                                                           Romans 5:18

                            Could it be that the transgression
                            represented by Adam and Eve
                            is a symbol/type of all error and sin? 


                      " In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men."

                                                                            John 1:4


                      " So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: 

                        everything old has passed away; 

                        everything has become new."

                                                                        II Corinthians 5: 17 


                      " For sin will have no domination over you,

                        since you are not under law but under grace."

                                                                         Romans 6:14


                      " See, I am making all things new."

                                                                         Revelation 21: 5

                      

                                                            *****


      This past week we had a large number of new folks join in with us.
                        We are blessed and we welcome you!

                               "frankly speaking"
                           spirituality for the street

           Is posted Thursday evening, east coast USA time
                     johnfrankshares.blogspot.com

           Is available by automatic email delivery Fridays
                              Sign Up, top right online format

           Past postings are available at Blog Archive
                       right column online format


                             SEE YOU NEXT WEEK!

************************************************************

                                                      


                


  
                     








            
                                                       

WAIT

Dear All of Us,
           "Hey, wait a minute" 
often means way more than a minute.
We spend lots and lots of minutes just plain old waiting.
For all the hurry up of our speed crazed society,
we wait, and wait, and wait.

Example.
I just called to cancel a doctor's appointment.
Took ten minutes listening to a mindless machine message 
a dozen times over telling me how important my call was, 
giving five options/prompts 
("Listen carefully as our menu has changed")
with the most God awful music stretching things out between rotations 
until I finally got through to a real live person, 
who then put me on hold for another two minutes.

For all our trimmed up hurry,
we are heavily weighted down with waiting.

You know what?

That might just be a blessing hidden in plain site.

Being forced to wait is a broadside blow to our ego demands:
                   
                     "I'm in control"  

"Things around here need to happen when and as I require" .

Forced waiting unequivocally says to our soul, 
"Not so! You're not in control of everything
and the world doesn't spin to your every touch!!"
We don't like to hear that.
We need to hear that.
Do we hear it?

Put another way, the asceticism of waiting tells us
"You're part of the show, not the whole show.
Hush up, and get in line!"
It invites to a happy humility,
one that frees us from the illusion and burden 
of trying to manage everything and everyone, 
even reality itself.

The asceticism of waiting also tells us 
that we are blessed to be in solidarity 
with all the people, places and parts of earth life.
Creation is working itself out, sometimes with interruptions for sure.
Things are meant to have an organic symmetry and harmony. 
It may take a while,
"So, slow down to catch up with that goodness."

When we are forced to wait in traffic, on line at the DMV, 
are number 255 at the deli counter, 
when the express lube at the car dealer's isn't even close to express, 
we are gifted with bonus moments to muse and meditate. 

When our child is taking a month of moments to finish their homework,
when we just ache for our company to go home so we can get to bed,
when an elderly person just can't wrap up their reminiscences
in under what seems like ten years,
we are gifted with a call to
                              Long Love 
a stretch that stretches soul to a fuller fullness of sharing God's Love.


Hey, thanks for waiting more than a minute for this to finish!!

              Right here waiting with you in life's line,

                              John Frank

                                 *****

Each week we are privileged to have new folks joining us.

Welcome! Have good to be together here at

                         "frankly speaking"
                     spirituality for the street

- it is posted online each Thursday evening, east coast USA time
                        johnfrankshares.blogspot.com
- it is available by automatic email delivery Fridays - sign up above right
- it offers past postings at Blog Archive - bottom right column.

                               SEE YOU NEXT WEEK!!

__________________________________________________________

           

DIRECTION

Dear All of Us,

No doubt about it.
It's critical to know where we're going 
and how to get there.

That's more than a matter for our GPS.
It's a matter of navigating life itself.

Let me share a bit about Maurice.
Like too many, Maurice doesn't have a Life GPS.
Sure, he has a fine job, house and car -
health insurance and a pension plan too -
society's markers of success and safety.
They don't get him very far down the road 
of meaning, purpose, and direction though.
Maurice tells me he feels "rudderless" and lonely.

I've known him for yards of years.
He's a top notch guy.
If you met him, guaranteed you'd like him.
He's bright, personable, gifted.
If you had a flat, he'd pull over and help you change the tire.
Yet, he himself feels stuck on the shoulder of significance,
life passing him by, four fold flat.

He's not alone.
Like so many cruising along out here 
on the road of everyday life 
and looking pretty well off
he's empty and lonely on the inside -
directionless - 
spiritually impoverished.

Western culture and religion have caused 
a lot of lonely, lost travelers on life's way.
As a society we're still stuck with the excessive individualism 
of the misnamed Enlightenment and Reformation.
Neither came close to being true to its name or society's need.
While they did much good, they ended up isolating people, 
making  the individual 
the determiner of meaning
and the end point of purpose and satisfaction.
They sidetracked individuals into their own lonely life lanes -
no ride share.
That has keep them from participating 
in life's dynamic, shared flow through,
left them stopped and stuck in self absorption, 
isolated in head and heart. 
Me-ism and capitalism keep the lonely, directionless individual busy 
going round and round on a traffic circle 
that gets you nowhere fast - utterly lost and lonely.

To switch the metaphor, Maurice is burdened with trying to be 
the captain of his own destiny and direction.
He has to plot his own course and power his own sails.
He doesn't know it yet, but in reality he is meant to be part 
of a magnificent fleet, launched and powered by Goodness Itself, 
sailing to an Ocean of Fullness in mutual support and care.
Direction, power, companionship are givens.

To switch the metaphor yet again,
(last time, I promise!) 
Goodness Itself creates us, empowers us 
and invites us to pour those gifts into others - 
to live a Love Flow streaming with others.
Good comes into us and goes through us to others.
We get hot wired with purpose, energy and closeness 
as we companion, support and care for them.
Those others are the people, places and earth elements 
with whom we journey to the Ocean of Fullness.

All this beautifully translates to a life of contemplation, care and sharing.
We're not looking into the mirror of me.
We look outward to the vastscape of other.
We see beauty and we kiss it.
We see pain and we salve it.
We see injustice and we address it.
We see need and we fill it.
We see promise and we support it.
We see offer and we accept it.
We see our giftedness and we share it.
We see the invitation to divine intimacy in all this and we embrace the Embrace.

Recently a homeless man asked Christine for food money.
She said she couldn't offer that 
(full time grad student on a shoes string budget),
but that she'd be right back.
Christine went up to her apartment and made a great big sandwich,
added in some extras and did go right back to the homeless man
with a bag of goodness to nourish body and spirit.
              That's Love Flow. That's direction.

Allison found out about an upcoming free lecture by Barbara Brown Taylor
and about Rowen Williams preaching soon at a local church here in Washington.
She took the time to let a like minded friend know about both.
              That's Love Flow. That's direction.

Tom Brier, a gifted, high minded  young attorney I know and greatly admire, 
is campaigning for congress (10th. Congressional District, Pennsylvania)
in hopes of bringing refreshed principle and practice to Washington. 
              That's Love Flow. That's direction.

Alex, a single man and construction worker, uses his Saturdays to be 
a Big Brother for a nine year old boy 
craving male mentoring and companionship.
              That's Love Flow. That's direction.

Mona, a bright, warm hearted woman, stays with her depressed husband 
and brings light to his darkness.
              That's Love Flow. That's direction.

Edger, an exhausted parent, goes to the art museum 
and lets the Divine love his spirit to renewed energy 
through the beauty there, the shared gifts of gifted givers.
              That's Love Flow. That's direction.

Goodness Itself - God - flows into and through us to others
in endless wonderful ways.
              That's Love Flow. That's direction. 

So, where do we go, how do we get there?

             We get and go by give.

We get going by directing and giving to others 
what they need from what we have been given.

That means things like:

        - we go where our gifts meet the need of others
        - we raise kids
        - we put our all into our work
        - we encourage
        - we forgive
        - we share in a spiritual community
        - we use our abilities, talents, opportunities for the common good
        - we do that in a warm and vigorous unity 
          with all those with whom we ride share on the roadway of daily life.
    



               Thanks for this chance to check out together 
              
                 where we're going and how to get there.
                                  
                                   Love Flow 
                         
                      the way to go and get there.

                                   John Frank

                                      *****


   A warm welcome to all joining us this week for the first time here at

                             "frankly speaking"
                         spirituality for the street
                     (johnfrankshares.blogspot.com)

- weekly postings go online Thursday evenings, east coast USA time

- automatic weekly email delivery is available Fridays - sign up above

- past postings are available at Blog Archive - bottom right column here



                              SEE YOU NEXT WEEK

 _______________________________________________________________