DAY

Brothers and Sisters.

Having written, rewritten, 

revised and revised 

this week's blog,

I feel a need for an Intro.

This blog is a double 

if not a triple header.

It is longer and 

more strenuous

than usual.

Its focus and concern are

vitally important.

I pray we all take time,

give head and heart to

slowly and prayerfully 

engage with it.

For those who chose 

to take a pass, 

here is a 

Soul Search

for prayer 

and meditation:

   " IF I WERE ON TRIAL 

      FOR BEING A CHRISTIAN, 

      WOULD THERE BE 

      ENOUGH EVIDENCE 

      TO CONVICT ME?"

           James Turro

Now to the 

hard work 

at hand.

We face peril. 

We find ways 

to live it 

to life in Christ.

Here we go.

In all cases, 

I love you!

John Frank

   ******

Dear All of Us,

Hope we're all having a 

Hey of a Day.

It would be great 

if that were so for

everyone everywhere.

But of course, it isn't.

        For 

    too many,

    too often,

    too much

it's not a heaven,

but a hell of a day.

They all are.

It may be so 

for us all

sooner than later.

Worldwide

things have

snapped,

broken loose,

are untethered.

It's like trying to navigatean 

an international highway 

with high-speed traffic

  careening across

         and

   up and down

     all lanes

 in chaotic mayhem.

A DEMOLITION DERBY

We absolutely need 

to find our way free of 

crash crush.

Worldwide we are in 

   a sea swirl of 

DESTABILIZATION.

We see it operative in 

just about every 

zone of daily life.

And it is a lot deeper 

than any and 

all of them together.

We just 

don't dare

get used to it,

take it for granted,

settle for it,

ignore it.

If we do,

we and our loved ones

will be sucked under,

drowned dreadful dead. 

             Please see:

             A New World Order 

             Is Coming.

             We Aren't Ready

                    by

           Margaret Mac Millan

                  New York Times

              Guest Essay

              Op-ed Page

            September 1, 2026

Here in my homeland,  

     The Not At All 

         UNITED

   States Of America,

The Ship of State,

indeed, the whole 

social order,

is listing badly,

is splitting apart,

in hateful extremes

Left and Right,

is taking on water, 

is starting to sink

(and the waters are 

 a lot deeper than a

 Reflecting Pool).

To change the metaphor

        (yet again)

it's like a couple that

hate and despise each other

but can't find a workable way 

to divorce.

They end up living a 

dreadful divorce together. 

      It's a hell of 

         a day,

      and night

- all of them are.

 Here and worldwide

 this destabilization 

   is the loss of a 

       CENTER

 It's the absence of a

        CORE

   It's the lack of 

        SOUL

    It's a spiritual 

        VOID.

We absolutely must

do something

and we sure can!

   Despite all the 

SCREEN SKREECH

          and

CHURCHY CHATTER

          and

POLITICAL TWIST TALK

this lack of core

is not primarily, 

political,

economic,

governmental,

moral,

cultural,

environmental.

Each and all 

of those are 

containers, 

carriers,

loci 

     of a core

     of a center,

     of a soul fire, 

     and the fire 

     has gone out.

A container fix 

isn't a fix.

It was like this for 

the followers of Jesus.

He was dead.

They were in a

free fall stall.

What to DO???

They did what we need to do

             

            Huddle 

            Humbly

            Empty Out 

               fixes 

            that don't.

   Into that openness 

   and their togetherness

   FLAMED THE SPIRIT

   It energized them.

They took to the streets

   preaching, inviting

       Kingdom Life.

  Small home churches,

        that were 

for real, close, loving,

     Gospel Living 

      communities,

       sprang up, 

 ever more and more.

     Despite seeming 

      impossibility,

      The Flame

        forthed 

   wider and farther.

       Fired by 

      The Spirit

      it flourished

  as together people

          lived

    CORE GOSPRL

        simply,

        really 

        practically

        believably

      Same for us.

      We huddle

      and humbly so

      as they did.

    If we empty out

        our fixes

        that don't,

   admit our core void,

           then

  into that openness

  and our togetherness

       THE SPIRIT

    WILL FLAME US

         FIRM

         FREE  

        FORTH

     Centered 

 in the dynamic,

 the energy field, 

         of

   GOD"S LOVE

we and our world

      will be 

    renewed 

  inside and out.

To do that we need 

to fully face 

some tough stuff,

some fixes we're in,

take some hard looks.

"The Christian ideal 

 has not been tried

 and found wanting.

 It has been tried 

 and found difficult 

 and left untried."

 G. K. Chesterton

Another hard look.

Christianity has done 

much good and much evil.

    It has not done 

      radical real

    CORE GOSPEL

        LIVING

   Christianity 

has come to be 

a cultural institution

with many good, 

Christian elements.

But since soon after 

the early days 

it ceased to be 

fundamentally a

New Testament 

     Church,

a basic way of life

    together

    in Christ.

It was coopted by 

Platonc Dualism 

   and became

    lackey to 

     Roman 

  Imperialism.

    It is done

       and 

 it has done in 

a needful world.

We need to be 

radically honest

about it.

        Please see:

        How Western Christianity 

        Got It Wrong

        Replacing the God of Fear with a 

        Spirituality of Healing,

        Randy Woodley

        Broadleaf

        2026

         

    

WE CONSIDER

WE FACE

HARD TRUTHS

For most church goers

The Beatitudes are not 

      our attitudes, 

     our operational 

     approaches/slants 

          on life.

      Those of us 

middle class to wealthy 

       are not so 

     "poor in spirit" 

         that we 

     actually live 

  a simple lifestyle 

       so others 

   may simply live.

An honest check of

our closets, garage, 

vacations, address, 

portfolio,

credit cards and 

it's painfully clear.

We possess way, way 

more than enough

and painfully many most

don't have nearly enough.

When people deal with us 

and our community

just how genuinely 

are they mixing it up 

           with 

     God in person,

      God in us      

      How really 

are they encountering

  "The Body of Christ"?

   1 Corintians:21-31

     

"I am the vine. 

 You are the branches...

 This is to my Father's glory, 

 that you bear much fruit, 

 showing yourselves 

 to be my disciples."

   Matthew 15:1-8

We need to be honest about

how really and fully 

we allow the life 

of the vine

free flow  

in us branches.

What quality is the

         "fruit" 

we bear in everyday life?

Just how beautifully obvious 

       is it or not 

            at

work, at social gatherings,

wherever we are, 

whatever we are doing?

    "By their fruits 

     you will know them,"

         Matthew 7:16

So yes, we assess 

what kind

of "fruit"

we serve up

for others 

in daily life.

We look to see 

what we are known for?

Is it discipleship?

Just how vibrantly 

is it a presence of 

Divine Love

in our person,

in our community??

   "I was a stranger 

    and you invited me in"

      Matthew 25:31-46

Personally, 

and as 

a community,

how genuinely do we  

welcome and include 

    (not tolerate)

     "strangers"

 into our lives:

 people of various other 

colorations, sexualities 

ethnicities, persuasions, 

politics, cultural manners,

spiritualities, immigrants,

odd balls, 

the disabled and distraught?

Yes, this is hard.

And yes we're at an 

   axial moment.

  We swing true

          or 

we and our world 

swing in the breeze,

     dead done.

Individually 

and as a

community 

we go through 

a profound, spiritual

conversion

      or... 

So, we stay close to each other. 

We live not as an organization,

but as a God given, 

lively and joyous

            spiritual family.

We pray together, 

really pray, 

really together,

really more and deeper than

The Lord's Prayer 

in under thirty seconds and

Joys and Concerns 

that are more than 

community announcements.

We ponder together and deeply

over the holy scriptures.

We apply them to us 

in our here and now.

We hold as much 

as possible in common.

We share, from

watching each other's' kids 

to wrapping in 

lonely and needful elderly.

We do all we can 

for people and needs 

in our area and beyond. 

  Our lives are 

an open invitation 

     to shared 

Gospel Community

        and 

        joy.

We do this in tantum with 

people and communities

of other faith traditions

as they too

    CORE RENEW

    SPITITUALY 

       RESET

      CENTER 

         in 

    GOD GOOD 

however they see 

        and 

 experience that.

Our world's 

plight and peril 

will be righted 

not by grand 

plans and programs.

It will be righted by

   a profound 

   spiritual reset

Centered in God Goodness.

That righting

will rise up worldwide

from communities 

vigorous, joyous, inviting. 

     That rising will

lift, center, be core,

      spark soul

          for

        society

 "Thy kingdom come 

on earth as in heaven."

     Matthew 6:10

        IT CAN

           IF

       WE WILL

 What a hey of a day

 that can be for all.

       ******

BLESSINGS FOR ENGAGING

        WITH ALL OF    

        THE ABOVE

    A WARM WELCOME 

TO OUR TOGETHERNESS 

    HERE EACH WEEK

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        WE HAVE A LOT 

              TO BE 

         AND BECOME, 

              A LOT 

             TO DO

          AND REDO,

       SPIRIT FLAMED.

     

     "COME, HOLY SPIRIT.

      FILL OUR HEARTS

      WITH THE FIRE

      OF YOUR LOVE."

   SEE YOU NEXT WEEK.

       LOVE TO ALL.

       GOD BLESS.

      JOHN FRANK

            PS:

      NEXT WEEK

      SHORTER,

      BRIEFER.

      I PROMISE!!

       ******

        frankly speaking

   spirituality for the street

johnfrankshares.blogspot.com

             ******

  

 

  

KIDS

Dear All of Us,

So, what's the

absolute best thing

that could be said of us?

He/She's :

- smart as a whip,

- a real looker/hunk

- loaded,

- patient as a saint,

- a go getter/high achiever,

- a rock star,

- way out front,

- smooth as silk,

- rock solid,

- totally reliable,

- successful

- wise as an owl,

- life of the party

- a living saint

- really nice,

- totally loyal,

- generous to a fault

           ???

According to Jesus,

the absolute

best thing that 

could be said of us 

is that we are

"Kids at heart."

 How 'bout dat??

 It sure rates 

 a good, 

 old fashioned, 

 Phil Rizzuto

 "HOLY COW!!"

         

  KIDS AT HEART?

         Yep!

     That simple.

     That definite.

     That definitive

     That unequivocal,

     That absolute,

     Period Paragraph.

        Ultimately

      The only ones 

      to make grade,

      to make the cut

             are

            KIDS

In Jesus' time,

as in in ours,

this just doesn't 

culture click.

I guess that's 

exactly why 

Jesus puts kids

front and center.

Then as now,

our cultures are 

    cockeyed, 

    off center.

They need 

a corrective.

Jesus offers life in the 

Kingdom of God

as wondrous corrective.

It makes all the difference 

in the world and forever.

Admission is for kids only:

      

      The people brought children to Jesus, 

      hoping he might touch them. 

      The disciples shooed them off.

      But Jesus was irate 

      and let them know it;

     "These children are at 

       the very center of 

       life in the kingdom.

       Mark this. 

       Unless you accept 

       God's kingdom 

       in the simplicity of a child, 

       you'll never get in."

       Then, gathering the children up 

       in his arms, he laid 

       his hands of blessing on them"

                 Mark 10:13-14

                  The Message

We don't need to be 

scripture scholars 

to understand this.

We do need to be, well, 

like a child 

to accept it,

to experience it.

In the whole 

spiritual journey

this is essential,  

is a sine qua non.

It's foundational: 

A child's simplicity

and acceptance.

Spiritual we ain't 

if we don't 

     and

spiritual we is

if we do.

Which is atrocious wording

for an absolute of 

Kingdom Admission

and wondrous life

together in it.

Children as a group are 

free, pure. 

immediate,

trusting, open.

They are dependent and

that's just fine, thank you!

They excel at free form,

exuberant play.

       Sidebar: 

          Imagine what our world would be like if 

        Donald Trump, Vladamir Putin, Jeff Bizos,

        Mark Zuckerberger and pals lightened up 

        in high energy, pure play in the backyards 

        of governance and commerce.

Children rejoice to be 

cared about and for. 

They delight in gifts

and jump right in

with zesty

kid go.

They "yes"

the adventure of 

love and life offered.

Again, it's a go 

and go they do!

It's like this.

They love to go 

for rides in the country 

and they have no illusions 

of being in the driver's seat.

They're full of wonder at 

all the marvels along

       LIFE"S WAY.

We bring  

this simple acceptance,

this soul-full attitude,

this diving into gift given,

this refreshing freedom, 

this kingdom love living,

to our day to day 

"adult" doings.

This liberating spirit 

animates us 

where and as we are -

Day Laborers, CEO's, 

collars and callings 

blue or white, 

married, single,

leaders, followers.

It brings kingdom life

to our work sights,

living rooms,

and community sharing.

Kingdom Life suffuses us,

in our relationships 

to nature and people,

to all our daily living.

However serious, 

substantive,

important, 

ordinary 

or challenging,

our settings 

and situations,

we get to be 

     

   KINGDOM KIDS

     

   KIDS AT HEART

         ******

  

     

 

      KIDS OF ALL KINDS AND AGES 

             WELCOME HERE

          ONLINE BLOG POSTINGS

                     EARLY

          WEDNESDAY EVENINGS

          EAST COAST USA TIME

   RECENT PAST POSTINGS AVAILABE

                       BY

           SCOLLING WELL DOWN

                  BENEATH
 

              THIS POSTING

        HAVE A WONDERFUL WEEK.

                "COME ON.

        LET"S GO OUT AND PLAY!"

.             LOVE TO ALL

              GOD BLESS,

              JOHN FRANK

                     frankly speaking

               spirituality for the street

            johnfrankshare.blogspot.com

                          ******

RIGHT AT HOME

Dear All of Us,

Across the spread of 

eighty-six years 

I've lived in a whopping

twenty-nine homes.

No, I wasn't delinquent 

with the rent and always 

a step or two ahead 

of the sheriff.

Dad's work had us 

on the move 

when I was a kid.

Then it was seminaries,

various religious communities,

clergy residences, parishes 

and retirement relocations.

A lot of homes 

for sure and 

many were 

just that,

  home.

It's so good to have 

a place and way to be

  RIGHT AT HOME

It grounds us 

to the heavens.

It stabilizes us

expansive. 

It makes 

all the difference

in our swirl of world.

Sadly, there are 

increasingly 

huge migrations 

of souls without 

a home base.

They are lost in 

 a pandemic of 

   loneliness. 

As mentioned here 

in a past positing,

it's like an orphan train 

with nowhere to go.

And this is happening

in a world coming undone,

in a world increasingly

at a loss for even 

basic community.

It is traumatizing.

In 2023 the 

Surgeon General

issued a report that 

said sad so and

clearly affirmed

the vital importance of

          home,

       community. 

It was entitled:

      Our Epidemic of 

      Loneliness and Isolation,

      The Surgeon General's 

      Advisory on the 

      Healing Effect of 

      Social Connection 

      and Community 

Steven Charleston (2)

frames things this way.

There has been a loss of a

            WE

 leaving us with only a

            ME

          

          That's

         ME-ISM

          

          That's

  solitary confinement

  even if in a crowd. (3)

  

    That is unnatural.

     

     That makes for 

        madness.

Indigenous peoples, 

and people across  

tribal lands and ways,

know a whole lot better.   

Example:

A highly regarded 

Australian scholar

was lecturing 

at a tribal gathering 

in Africa.

He shared that there was 

rampant loneliness in Sidney.

His African interpreter 

interrupted, 

telling the speaker 

that in these lands 

and tribes 

there was 

no such word as

  "loneliness". (4)

Would that it were so 

for us all!

Well, it can be and 

well that would be

in these severing times.

           By God's gift 

           to be human 

              is to be 

        RIGHT AT HOME

an individual in community.

That balance is 

under siege, 

largely lost

in many lands.

The communal has been 

devastated, eviscerated

by an exclusionary

individualism. 

Beginning in 

the Western World

with the so called 

Enlightenment,

metastasizing in 

The Industrial Revolution,

it has become

pervasively lethal in our

   Technology Age,

   the age of the

  "Screen Caged."

It's Me-ism Madness.

Happily and hope filled 

in the midst of this madness 

is the gift of community.

Jesus invites us into 

      shared life, 

lived in community:

"The time is fulfilled,

      and the 

  kingdom of God 

          is 

        here. 

 Change your life 

 and believe the 

     Message." (5)

Jesus underscores 

the dynamic of 

community living in

the kingdom - 

living his love together:

   "Love one another 

    as I have loved you" (6)

 and that's one heaven 

 of a lot of "lov'n"!

We care. 

We share,

never stopping 

to count, be it

tools, time, 

talent shared.

We offer, 

blend,

who we are, 

share

what we have.

At The Last Supper 

Jesus prayed 

that all in 

the community  

  " ...be brought to 

    complete unity..." (7)

We're invited to

tie in tight,

prosper, 

one in diversity,

a mosaic

of unity,.

Paul reminds us that 

together we are

The Body of Christ (8)

Cooperative unity in 

complimenting uniqueness -

day laborers or CEO's, 

Tex-Mex or Blue Zone dining,

Shakespear or Daniel Silva,

down home or uptown.

The Early Church was called

             Ecclesia

        "The Gathered" (9)

We can be too.

Gathered in 

prayer, service.

hospitality, study,

The varied 

Body of Christ

1Corinthians 12:12-27

In the early days 

of the church

Tertullian recorded 

the radical and 

sacrificial love 

the early Christians 

had for each other:

"See how they love 

 one another." (10)

     Was then.

    Can be now.

Here in The States 

and world-wide 

things are really rough.

They are going 

to get a lot rougher.

We need each other.

Jesus calls us 

to be together, 

to be community,

living Kingdom,

"kin"- dom life.

Thus, the oft 

urging here,

and yet again now, 

that we find or found 

a true, a for-real

spiritual community.

It will correct and restore 

the God given balance of 

individual and communal.

   "Wherever  

    two or three 

    are gathered 

    in my name 

    there I am 

    in their midst." (11)

What great company 

      and what a

       Center!

That's what it takes 

- close in community -

         to be 

         really,  

       spiritually,

       humanly

   RIGHT AT HOME  

        ******

     For those who might have 

         time and interest,

      A FEW NOTES ON THE 

               "HOW" 

                OF A 

          SMALL GROUP 

          COMMUNITY

       are offered below 

       at the conclusion

       of this posting

     NO EXTRA CHARGE :)

              ****** 

(1) Gallop: Weekly Religious 

                 Attendance/USA

     1950's = 76% of the population

     2025   = 20% of the population

(2) Member of the Choctaw Nation,

     former Dean, 

     Episcopal Divinity School, 

     Cambridge, MA,

     Episcopal Bishop of Alaska

(3) We the Lonely People,

     Searching for Community,

     Ralph Keyes, Harper and Row,

     1973

(4) Sorry. I failed to note 

     where I read this recently.

(5) Mark 1:15, The Message

(6) John 13:36

(7) John 17:23

(8) 1 Corinthians 12: 27

(9) 1 Corinthians  16:19 

      one of numerous 

      uses in Paul of 

      "ecclesia" for church

(10) Tertullian (160-240 AD)

       Apohogetus ch 39 sect 7

(11) Matthew 18:20

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      here each week.

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For those interested and 

for consideration

over time

         A FEW NOTES 

             ON THE 

             "HOW" 

              OF A 

         SMALL GROUP 

          COMMUNITY

We start where we are.

If there is an 

established church 

in our area that fosters 

small groups,

we explore the possibility 

of developing one

along the lines of

  John Wesley's 

Ecclesiola in Ecclesia,

   Small Churches 

       in the 

  Larger Church

         or

The Third Order (Lay)

    Franciscans.

If that is not possible, 

we reach out  

to a few 

like-minded, 

like-hearted, 

like-spirited

others.

We have dinner and 

talk through the 

posting above and

these notes here. 

If it's a go,

we meet once a week:

to pray, 

reflect together 

on scripture and

our living of it, 

share Agape or 

Holy Communion, 

have a meal together

(cum vino is just fine!!),

sharing how things are.

Monday to Friday, 

if possible, we

Zoom Share 

Morning Prayer

We care for each other,

help as needed 

and possible.

We individually and 

as a community

serve needs in 

our area and beyond

We ask one

in our number 

to serve as 

convener and organizer

            and 

 a discernably matured 

      spiritual guide

 in our area to serve as 

         overseer

 as per the early church

 with a local servant leader

         presbyter

  and an area overseer 

  of small home churches

          episkopos 

As in the early church,

they have day jobs

for their support.

We ask the Spirit 

to vivify us as 

The Body of Christ.

1 Corinthians 12:12-31

Again and again

we revisit,

refocus on 

our raison d'etre as

Jesus prays for us:

 "The goal is 

  for all of them 

  to become 

  one heart and mind - 

  Just as you, Father, are 

  in me and I in you, ... 

  Then the world 

  might believe that 

  you sent me...

  then they will mature 

  in this oneness

     John 17: 21-23

      The Message

  

     "Abide in me, 

      and I in you."

        John 15:4

All the best.

See you 

next week.

Love to all

God Bless

John Frank

        frankly speaking

   spirituality for the street

johnfrankshares.blogspot.com

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