HOW - PART ONE

Dear All of Us,

For starters this week

please allow me

to share,

of all things, 

a tiny bit about 

soccer and me.

When I went to 

the minor seminary

as a teenage boy

back in 1955,

oh yes, there were 

adolescent hominids

moving and active

on this earth 

that far back

and this one 

didn't have 

a clue on

how to do that 

on a soccer field.

I knew zip, zero

about soccer.

For such as us 

new at the

minor seminary,

it was announced

on day one that

there would be

mandatory soccer

every Monday, 

Wednesday, and Friday

after classes,

September to Christmas.

The prospect was daunting.

Soccer for me was a great big

               HOW

         do you do this

                and  

  

        not get mauled?

        

In a little way 

it was like our

ominous right now.

We face a world-wide

field of play

new, strange 

and menacing.

The old order 

is gone and 

a new one 

hasn't even

heard of horizons.

Our world is torn 

in aggressive turmoil. (1)

So many seem 

to know zip, zero 

about how 

to take that field

and stay upright.

It's all so dire,

different, difficult, 

dangerous.

It's just 

getting started,

not at all 

familiar, 

predictable, 

neat nor tidy. 

Daunting indeed, 

even denting!

I eventually learned

       HOW

to stay upright 

on the soccer field.

        

      HOW

do we all do so 

  on today's 

  plain of peril?

The best I know is to hear 

       Really, Really 

            Hear

           Jesus

     at our center self

  hear like never before

    receive from Him

    what it will take 

 

    to live in our new

    not at all nice now.

In doing that 

we need to know 

we'll have to do so 

on a far from level 

playing field.

Empire is vast 

and crazy chaotic.

Jesus sums up 

for us the

Judeo-Christian 

Life Wisdom

that is our 

answer and way:

   Just then a 

   religion scholar 

   stood up 

   with a question 

   to test Jesus. 

  "Teacher, what do 

   I need to do 

   to get eternal life? 

   He answered, 

  "What is written 

    in God's Law? 

    How do you 

    interpret it? 

    He answered, 

   "You shall love 

    the Lord your God 

    with all your 

    passion and prayer and

    muscle and intelligence - 

    and that you 

    love your neighbor 

    as well as 

    you do yourself." 

    Good answer!" 

       said Jesus. 

 "Do it and you'll live." (2)

       Luke 10:25-28

        The Message

        

             Love

  God    Neighbor   Self

         

             But

         

         what's the

         NOW HOW

          of that?

Nothing shy of a 

MAJOR SPIRITUAL 

       RESET

It is the only way 

to take to this new, 

frightening,  

Field of Way Less

Than Dreams

and stay standing.

Pleasant church going,

cultural religiosity,

won't go the distance.

It would mean 

being mowed down

less than a foot in 

on the field before us.

We will need immense

strength and stamina,

wisdom and courage.

  

God will give it

         IF

  we let God get 

  close enough 

   to do that.

What's at issue here

is deep, solid, constant

intimacy with God,

not piety,

intimacy.

God so desires 

that intimacy with us.

God is Love Itself.

God is passionately 

in love with us.

God wants us so close 

that there is just 

The One Of Us -

God-Neighbor-Self,

The powerful paradox 

      of union.

In that union 

we will have an

  immediacy 

     and 

 

  fullness 

   of the 

 strength 

 stamina

 wisdom 

 needed. 

It's a tryptic 

      of 

    Love

We're talking here of

red hot love,

unequivocal,

undiluted,

passionate, 

all pervasive,

   LOVE

What will that be like?

Here's three little pieces 

in a sampler.

Let's each

add to it 

multiple many 

particulars more.

       

   LOVE OF GOD    

At least half an hour

   every day of

   one on one 

      to be 

      ONE 

     soulful 

  love making.

   Not piety,

   intimacy.

LOVE OF NEIGHBOR

Loving the people 

   devastating 

The Common Good 

        and 

 The Good Earth.

   LOVE OF SELF

forgiving our flaws 

living our uniqueness.

"I can do all things 

 through Him 

 who strengths me." (3)

      That's

   our surety

as we take the field,

our steady footing.

That's 

       HOW

     ******

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

HOW - PART TWO

is in the works.

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

(1) The World Is In Chaos.

      What Comes Next?

      New York Times

      January 11, 2026

      It will take some time

      and it will be time 

      well spent,

      especially Part Five,

      Expect Continued Chaos,

      Margaret Macmillan

(3) Philippians 4:13

         ******

      We have been blessed 

      in the past few weeks

      with many new friends

              from 

      a rich plenitude of

      lands and peoples.

 

     A WARM WELCOME

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         Thanks to all 

         who share 

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         with others.

            ******

      See you next week.

      Every goodness 

      and blessing.

      may we all get

      the hang of the

           HOW 

        Love to all.

        God Bless,

 

       John Frank

         ******

        frankly speaking

  spirituality for the street

johnfrankshare.blogspot.com

             ******

RITE RIGHT

      Friends

This week's offering 

is being posted 

an evening earlier 

than usual.

  All the best.

   John Frank

    ******

Dear All of Us,

Years, musculature 

and energy ago 

I regularly stayed at 

my friend and more 

Jude Willett's farm. 

It is near the 

Abbey of Gethsemani 

in beautiful,

rural Kentucky. 

Being on the farm

         was 

    St. Benedict's 

      LIFE RITE,

   "Ora et Labora"

       for sure.

  

We bailed hay, 

planted, picked 

and canned vegetables, 

cut timber, built a barn, 

transported 

hogs and cattle 

to and from the 

auction house 

in Frankfort,

having a six A.M. 

breakfast at 

Tom Pigg's eatery

in Bardstown on the way

- an overabundance of 

  delicious cholesterol 

  and a generous spread 

  of country fresh folks -

shared story and soul, 

teased and prayed. 

        I loved it.

There is an earthy, 

hard scrabble, 

honesty and often 

humorous comradery 

about farm folk. 

They help 

each other out. 

Living close 

to the earth 

lifts soul 

heavenward. 

Life is paced 

slow and steady. 

There's time to notice

God Good

across the spread

of time and place.

That was in

marked contrast 

to the intense, 

rushed life 

for me

back home in 

suburban New Jersey 

in those days.

Being on the farm 

meant many blessings. 

High on the list 

was a chance 

to slow down and

and catch up with 

God, Creation 

and myself.

That difference made 

all the difference

for Soul Self.

Farm Rite is one 

of countless Life Rites 

that mix and match us 

      Life Right

with our deeper selves,

neighbors and Nature,

a fresh encounter 

with the divine

incarnate varied wondrous

in our midst.

e.g. music camps, 

square dancing,

mission trips, 

literary gatherings, 

hiking/biking clubs, 

spiritual retreats,

prayer/Bible Study groups, 

community gardening, 

singing barbershop, 

quilting circles,

Saturday volunteer

"Fix It Teams" 

for the needy, ...

These immersions in

good difference

refresh, renew our spirits.

There is a fundamental

wholeness, holiness

      in them.

They clear channel 

    The Spirit 

with new grace gifts.

They balance us out

      Rite Right

       ******

       

       FURTHERENCE

      For Ponder Prayer

The apostles then rendezvous

with Jesus and reported on all

they had done and taught.

Jesus said,

"Come off by yourselves,

 let's take a break 

 and get a little rest."

 For there was constant 

 coming and going. 

 They didn't even 

 have time to eat.

  Mark 6:30-31

 THE MESSAGE

    (Jesus) 

"Are you tired?

Warn out? 

Burned out 

on religion?

Come to me. 

Get away with me and

you'll recover your life.

I'll show you how

to take a real rest. 

Walk with me and

work with me - 

watch how I do it.

Learn the unforced 

rhythms of grace.

I won't lay anything heavy

or ill-fitting on you.

Keep company with me 

and you'll learn to live

freely and lightly."

Mattthew 28-30

THE MESSAGE

     ******

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Thursday afternoons

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East Coast USA time

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It's so right rite

being here together 

each week.

Have a good one 

upcoming.

   Love to all.

   God Bless, 

   John Frank

                   frankly speaking

             spirituality for the street

          johnfrankshares.blogspot.com

                       ******

 

 

NEWS

Dear All of Us,

David Muir is a crisp,

sober, fast paced, 

TV newscaster 

here in the States.

More nights than not

he begins with:

"There's news tonight."

That news is mostly 

like the night, 

the deepest, 

darkest night -

gerrymandered injustice,

petulant, polluted politics,

intentional inequality,

international upheaval,

people and places violated,

truth deliberately distorted,

rage at roads of social intersections,

religion wrong left and right,

media mind bending,

violence normalized,

individualism isolating to 

loneliness and depression,

sleaze sports,

vapid, dumbing down

entertainments.

Shades of dark 

ever darker

leading to

social blackout,

self-downed dark.  

There's more than Muir

reporting darkness.

There are those 

turning off the lights.

These false prophets 

promise plenty,

leave us 

shorted, distorted.

They have become among

the world's wealthiest 

by pushing psychic 

and social porn

(porn = perversion of the good).

They and their lackeys

deep darken the populous. 

Loose in the land 

are legions of these 

false prophets

profiting from 

their violation

of the real and good.  

In their adolescent 

immaturity

    and 

grandiosity,

they peddle 

truth pillaged,

reality riddled weird. 

They provide 

platform and program 

flashing at us 

a mad, mad world

soullessly spinning to spoil,

piling up a garbage dump

of damnable 

distortion and destruction.

        PHEW!!!!!

Incessant exposure to such

over and over and over again

saps spirit, worries head,

attacks heart, stuns soul.

It's more than galaxies 

from good news.

It is damnable 

downing 

dark!

Yes, there is 

a miserable, mass mess,

ink dark depressing.

Most media misses the

The actual lead stories 

in life. 

Our balance and 

well-being depend 

on not missing them.

In them the 

minus mania of

the mass media 

is "crossed" 

positive plus,

foundation firm,

heart humming,

light bright generating.

It reports, reflects

The Goodness 

that is God

radiant,

day bright, 

growth warming in

a divine profusion,

dynamic, splendid,

ever expanding,

not to be missed. 

The Real Lead Story 

       In Life

Nature releases 

deep down 

God Goodness.

It does so in quilts 

of splendor spread 

varied worldwide - 

canyons, creeks,

fields fruitful,

mountains,

birds,

creatures stripped,

spotted, sleek, 

submerged, slow,

seasons warm 

in growth, 

resting to renewal.

      Nature  

petals to planets, 

God's first imprint,  

The oldest Bible,

top of the news,

font page positive,

not to be missed.

The Real Lead Story

      In Life

 

Our globe of glory 

is home to 

households of us,

unique and 

complimentary.

Lots of lots, 

differently good.

Here in The States 

peoples delightfully 

varied in 

the Dakoda's,

rural Kentucky,

Louisiana bayous,

busy Manhattan,

sprawling California,

the mid-west 

plains of plenty,

suburbs and towns

across the land.

Cousins many

worldwide.

We dress, think, 

cook our food,

raise our kids, 

speak our 

hearts and minds,

live our traditions,

in distinctive richness

of manner and mode.

All around 

our shared world

the vast majority 

of us are

doing our best 

to be friends and

families, neighbors, 

co-workers, helpers,

living real life's 

lead story.

God is love and 

we can be too.

For us God is 

experienced, 

understood, 

ritualized

in a splendid 

palette of traditions. 

A kaleidoscope 

wonderous.

Oh yes!

There is so much other

and abundantly more 

    God Goodness 

      reporting

The Real Lead Story

        In Life

Worldwide, though,  

the controlling media,

hypes the horrible,

cheapens taste,

violates truth,

tries to addict us to 

screen and screech 

darkness. 

They and 

their tech tools 

grease the skids 

for the

dark doers in 

government,

commerce, 

culture, 

courts.

To put it 

painfully plain, 

modern media and 

tech mania are

demon possessed.

People indiscriminate

with them will be 

morally and mortally 

mauled dark dead.

A Soul Suggestion:

Our souls and society 

depend on us managing

a corrective telling to 

a media and technology 

deployed and determined 

to control us dark.

It's so prevalent 

that we are tempted 

to take it as normative.

It is devilishly 

just the opposite.

So, we carefully 

select and limit

our media/tech 

exposures.

This is a needed, 

countercultural 

act of living 

a wholesome, 

reality based, 

spiritual life.

We do well to ask:

- is this true

- is this necessary

- is this in sync with

  with the words 

  and way of

  Jesus Christ

- is this living 

  Kingdom Coming?

All this is hard to hear.

The alternative is to die 

before we are dead.

We get all this right 

or it's hell on earth for

the earth and 

us its people. 

The media/tech people

rule the world,

subtle in their slickness. 

As mentioned above, 

they grease the skids 

for the despots who 

are brutalizing truth,

the earth and

increasingly more

of its people.

This is not 

what and how 

God invites us 

to be and live.

Again, the

media/tech demons

offer us 

bread and circus 

as they degrade us 

and all of 

God's Creation

claiming betterment.

To "Say it again Sam":

Their "product" 

is so common,

so culture interwoven, 

that we seem to see it  

as just the way things are.

This is precisely  

how the Nazi's

duped and doped 

the people of Germany.

Media hypnosis.

There was hell to pay.

Given the speed 

and lethalness of

today's misinformation 

and nukes 

with AI now taking hold 

of the controls,

we need the 

grace and wisdom 

to checkmate 

the reporting 

from lie-land and

fully, vigorously 

    live-tell 

The Real Lead 

In Life's Story.

Just as we become 

what we eat, 

so we become 

what we take in

head, heart and soul,

individually and 

as a society.

We wouldn't allow 

a pervert 

to abuse a child.

We must not allow 

the media/tech 

false for profit,

pervert prophets

to abuse us, 

The Common Good,

The Good Earth 

where we live

by God's gift.

An essential help here 

is to be woven tight 

in a spiritual community

that strives to live

actually and practically, 

        truthfully

   in mutual support 

     THE GOSPEL

   of the one who is

       "The way, 

 

        the truth 

       and the life."

        John 14:6

         That's 

 

    The Real Lead

            In 

     Life's Story

      It sure is 

     THE GOOD 

 

       NEWS

      

      ******

PS

On the chance that 

all this may seem 

alarmist, overstated,

we do well to read real, 

        to read 

       real Jesus 

           on 

   pervert prophets

     who seek to

spoil soul, society, and

   sanctuary earth

for profit and power:

     "Watch out for 

      false prophets.

      They come to you 

       in sheep's clothing, 

       but inwardly they are

       ferocious wolves.

       By their fruits 

    

       you will recognize them."

                  Jesus

             Matthew 7:15

             

           John cautions:

     "Beloved, do not believe 

      every spirit, but

      test the spirits,

      whether they are 

      of God;

      because many 

      false prophets 

      have gone out 

      into the world."

        1 John4:1

     

     Jesus yet again:

       "Then many 

        false prophets 

        will rise up 

        and deceive many. 

        And because 

        lawlessness 

        will abound, 

        the love of many 

        will grow cold."

        Matthew 24:11-12

   It is helpful to Pray Ponder 

       all of chapter 24.

    Could the conclusion 

          have many 

   moments and motions

        wrapping up 

  in a slow motion over time,

     our time included?

           ******

PPS

Please consider reading 

all of Matthew 24  

as offered in 

    THE MESSAGE  

     (free online)

     for another 

wording of the warnings.

        ******

              

   A WARM WINTER WELCOME

                 TO

                 ALL

              ******

ONLINE POSTING

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            THANKS

         much to many

           for sharing

           with others

         frankly speaking

    spirituality for the street

johnfrankshares.blogspot.com

              ******

     So good to be together.

Thanks for your good company.

        See you next week

            Love to all.

            God Bless,

            John Frank

             ******