LIGHT UP

Dear All of Us, 

So, what were we all doing 

in the summer of 1957?

Of course, many of us

     "weren't yet" 

     that far back.

Ancient of Days that I am,

in '57 I was 

a summer orderly at 

St. Joseph's Hospital

in Paterson, NJ. 

It's a big, busy, 

city medical center.

I worked in the 

emergency room and morgue.

It was pretty intense 

and especially so 

for someone seventeen -

dealing with

broken arms to 

psychic collapses, 

heart attacks 

to strokes.

And then there was 

removing bodies 

from refrigeration 

and assisting at autopsies.

Not particularly 

light and easy fare.

Believe me it was 

definitely and decidedly 

dark and difficult

at times.

Coffee breaks helped lighten things up.

            And what did I do?

  I joined the doctors and nurses to

                 LIGHT UP

  Yup, I started smoking cigarettes

  with health care professionals 

               in a hospital! 

                   Crazy.

 Over time I found a lot better ways to

                  LIGHT UP

  and they are just right for right now.

 

In this now of night-like days

the stress level across 

shoulders and societies 

is way, way more than ever 

it was for seventeen-year old me 

at the hospital 

seeking relief in coffee and

Unlucky Strikouts.

What's needed now are ways, 

       deep and soulful, 

              ways

               to

          LIGHT UP

      way down deep 

      all the way out

      all way round.

In our everyday orbits we get 

to help with that right where we are. 

In fact, it's a major portion 

of our spiritual lives.

We do well to see and share that.

      

       "You are the light of the world...

      Let your light shine before men,

      that they may see your good deeds

      and praise your Father in heaven."

               Matthew 5:14&16

Jesus says same of self:

       

       "I am the light of the world.

        Whoever follows me 

        will never walk in darkness, but

        will have the light of life."

            

          That's a two-fer One

               Light Tight

     Our model and energy source is 

                     Jesus.

                 He really is 

     The Light for our Troubled World.

               He asks our help.

                Jesus wants to 

                 wrap us in, 

                 fuse us one,

               shine us bright.

Again, it is a major portion 

of our spiritual lives.

Accepting the warmth 

and light bright of Jesus

plugs us in where Jesus 

was plugged in. 

A close reading 

of the Gospels 

highlights that

his prime ministry 

was with those

down darkened 

in distress.

He met them 

where and as they were.

He love-lighted them. 

He shared who and how 

he was with them.

It was rather miraculous 

and did they ever

        LIGHT UP

So, how do we let 

the light of Christ 

shine through us?

First and foremost, 

we make sure 

it's his light, 

not our 

controlling, 

posturing, 

false selves 

showing off, 

doing feel good 

for self-strut.

That means 

we let Jesus keep us 

plugged into him and 

that in turn means

    Openness, Intimacy, Prayer

            Then we go 

          where he went 

            as he went 

                and 

       do that as we are 

       and where we are: 

- If we can relieve 

  people in pain, 

  we do so.

- When people are in pain 

  that cannot be relieved, 

  we quietly companion them.

  We are a faithful, 

  flickering light 

  in their darkness. 

- Walking down the sidewalk 

  we pocket our phone,

  nod and smile when possible,

  a simple flick of light.

- If Soul Stretch allows, 

  we consider adopting 

  a foster child.

- At social gatherings 

  we find ways to wrap in 

  the left outs.

- If do-able, 

  we companion a child 

  as a Big Brother/Sister.

- In conversations we listen 

  with our hearts 

  more than motor mouth.

- Those of us with means 

  forgo extravagances, 

  use our funds

  to support 

  a poor child of promise 

  by financing attendance 

  at the best possible schools, 

  pre-K to graduate school. 

  If that sounds radical, 

            it is, 

      as radical as, 

   "Again, I tell you, 

    it is easier for a camel 

    to go through 

    the eye of a needle 

    than it is 

    for a rich man 

    to enter 

    the kingdom of God." 

            Jesus

    (Matthew 18:24)

- We host a Table Ministry, 

  weekly connecting 

  all different sorts 

  socially and soulfully

  over linguini

  cum vino

  (make mine a robust red).

- We find ways to practically 

  care for the earth and

  advocate justice for its peoples.

  Perhaps a community garden.

  Perhaps organizing 

  small group visits to legislators.

- We take church home with us.

  Possibly a weekly at home 

   prayer/support group.

- We "adopt" a lonely 

  nursing home resident, 

  treat them as family, 

  bring them to our home 

  especially for holiday meals,

  visit them weekly 

  bringing a little "goodie".

- If we live in 

  an apartment building

  we occasionally slip 

  the maintenance person 

  a twenty in gratitude.

- We find ways to genuinely 

  and regularly spot

  overwhelmed parents, 

  perhaps taking their kids 

  for a day in the country, 

  or if they live there, 

  a day in the city.

- We cut some slack for 

  a cranky family member 

  having a bad hair day,

  for some of us, make that 

   "a bad bald day" :)

So, we have these few 

     Soul Prompts.

Now we add to the list 

        our own

      Jesus Ways

           to

       Light Up

       ******

              A FEW

       IF YOU CARE TO'S

          We can have a 

         heavenward lift

             enjoying

             the music

                 of

             the online

               video

                at

Shine Jesus Shine song lyrics

St. Lawrene Church Chorly

           (3:50m)

           ******

     

      WE CAN HAVE A GO 

      AT PERSOALIZING

             JESUS'

       JOB DISCRIPTION

   IN TERMS OF OUR TERMS

"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, 

 because he has anointed me

 to preach good news to the poor.

 He has sent me to proclaim 

 freedom for the prisoners and 

 recovery of sight for the blind,

 to release the oppressed, 

 to proclaim the year 

 of the Lord's favor."

       e.g. how shine 

    The Light of the World

       "to free prisoners"

- those locked up in selfishness

- those captive to unemployment

- those jailed in poverty

- those in relational

  solitary confinement

             ******

    EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES 

                  FOR

              SHINING 

    THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD

            I was hungry

            I was thirsty

            I was a stranger

            I needed clothes

            I was sick

            I was in prison

          Matthew 25:31-46

          e.g. I was a stranger.

- Relating to an autistic person at church

- Cultivating a friendship with 

  a Far-Right person in a Far-Left area,

  a Far-Left person in a Far-Right area

                  ******

         WELCOME ONE AND ALL

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           EAST COAST USA TIME

                     THANKS

                 FOR SHARING

                 frankly speaking

         PAST POSTINGS AVAILABLE

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                    BENEATH 

                    THIS ONE

             See you next week.

             Shine Jesus Shine!

                  Love to all.

                  God Bless

                  John Frank

               frankly speaking

          spirituality for the street

        johnfrankshares.blogspot.com

                               ******

   

           

  

            

HARDEST

Dear All of Us,

Trusting that 

we've all had our 

fiber full,   

fruit fresh,

yogurt topped

breakfasts

this morning,

let's get right to it.

We have some 

heavy lifting.

It's this.

     

What is the number one, 

   no doubt about it,

        for sure,

      hands down, 

       darndest

      HARDEST

        thing 

in our spiritual lives?

          

          

         Is it

an untamed passion,

someone we can't stand,

we're soul stalled,

concept confusion,

jealousy,

sinful past,

desert dry soul,

laziness,

selfishness,

dispiriting church,

striving fatigue,

conflicting values,

a world coming undone,

fear,

success mania,

other............?

For all those and many more

there is one even harder.

   

    

     THE HARDEST

             is

      Letting God 

     love and lead

            us 

      God's Way

         

      

         Surprised?

Well, ever so sneaky subtle,

deep in us is a commanding 

sense of soulful

self-direction and

self-promotion.

It amounts to

a discounting of divine 

care and guidance.

It's a reluctance to totally 

give over all to even God,

to unreservedly

surrender 

to total goodness, 

to divine love.

It lurks 

just below the surface 

for many of us, 

 

a subtle stoppage 

to a full free flow of

God and us

 ONENESS

We blockade 

divine intimacy

and wonder why 

we're frustrated 

and lonely.

     Control

     is the

 contraceptive 

       of 

     soul.

So, here's 

a homey, 

hockey analogy

But first,

A sidebar:

                 

                  If you ever 

                 run short

                 of them, 

                 do ring me up. 

                 I have

                baskets full!! 

OK, now back to 

spiritual serious.

Well, not really.

Here comes that

homey, hocky analogy.

Imagine a six-year-old

demanding 

to drive the car,

interstate intense,

New York to 

San Francisco.

Pretty crazy for sure

and yet, that's roughly

how we too often, 

perhaps regularly,

try to navigate 

spiritually.

In our immaturity,

God's welcome to sit 

in the passenger seat and

offer occasional assistance 

when requested,

to grab the wheel 

when we get in a fix, 

but the wheel is OURS!!.

I confess it has been 

sadly so with my soul

way too much and long.

In my younger days

I strove to be spiritually 

letter perfect.

Talk about trying to be 

in the driver's seat!!

I crashed big bad time - 

a psychic meltdown.

Over the years 

I have done lots of 

stupid, self-centered

spiritual role playing

thinking it was 

a way to be holy,

to get ahead spiritually

by serving 

in a certain fashion.

Problem was it was 

      MY Way

        not 

    God's Way

I wrote the script and

was the main actor -

the perfect pastor

(eighty hours a day,

ten days a week),

a spiritual guru,

the relevant, cool cleric,

the sober ascetic,

the misty mystic,

the reformer,

the ideal husband 

and dad even if 

my wife and kids 

didn't notice it.

Another sidebar:

               When joking with my wife,

               I slip into one of those

             " You go ahead and have 

               that last piece of cake"" wines,

               my wife teases right back that 

              she doesn't mind me 

              being a saint, 

              but forget about

              the martyr bit !!

To push the driving analogy

a touch more - I promise!! -

           consider 

    The Greyhound Bus 

         commercial:

LEAVE THE DRIVING TO US

   (Dated yes, but come on. 

    I'll be eighty-six! in a week)

That's how it is with God.

Whatever the stretch of road,

hard, easy, dangerous 

or breath taking,

God offers to be

in the driver's seat

and we move over:

"...Thy will be done...

   Matthew 6:10

"Trust in the Lord 

with all your heart 

and lean not on your

own understanding;

in all your ways 

acknowledge him and 

he will make 

your path straight."

   Proverbs 3:5

  In other words:

  

 "Leave the driving to me.

  I'll get us where we're going, 

  safe and sound."

            God

It's all a matter of 

      TRUST

    of having  

   wide open, 

 "You betcha",

  clean, clear, 

   complete,

     Trust

 

    in God,

      and

      fully

  Following 

His way and will.

Adam and Eve didn't.

They grabbed the wheel,

played God, and look

what happened 

to them - and us - and our world.

All this does not mean 

we go spiritually comatose,

inert, passive, stalled out.

It does mean we freely go 

where God takes us and 

as God goes about it.

We live directed by

     The Gospel, 

       guided 

        and  

  strengthened

  by the Spirit.

    We live it 

 as life shows up 

  on the road

     of life -

 easy, painful, 

clear, conflicted.

We let God lead.

We live a following.

- We "Bloom where 

  we are planted",

  not seeking out some 

  imagined garden enclosed

  for spiritual excelling.

- We don't play supposedly

  superior roles that

  are not genuine to us,

  spiritual or otherwise.

- We don't stretch to score 

  brownie points with God 

  or before others.

- We don't jump on the latest

  spiritual fads to excel like

  going for: 

    * One-Armed Yoga Handstands

           For Day Long Bliss

    * Hair Shirts For Suburbanites

    * Meditations Mellow for 

      Mile High Ecstasy 

      Right at Your Kitchen Table

  *  Novenas That Never Fail

      (votive lights included)

  Yah, I jest but it's anything 

  but fun or funny.

- Reading all the new "in" 

  spiritual books to keep up with 

  the latest and best in the 

     Spirituality Olympics.

- rushing off to every new practice, 

  retreat, protest, seminar, workshop 

  to keep pace with the spiritually elite.

- catching the top ten spirituality podcasts

  to rank high among 

  the Spirituality Chi-Chi Set. 

- Straining, pushing to graduate 

  from simple prayer to

  contemplation to the mystical. 

A lot of false self 

in the driver's seat there.

A lot of trying to climb the

latter of spiritual superiority.

          So doing, 

         we wedge 

     our false selves 

        in between 

God and our true selves.

On the positive, what really counts side,

- We treat those around us as God -

  spouses, kids, in-laws, neighbors, 

  co-workers, the delights and 

  the dim at work, in church,

  all those in our many relational zones.

- We welcome, embrace and share 

  with the hurt and needy.

       "Whatever you do to others 

             you do unto me."

             Matthew 25:40

          They presence God 

 

                   and 

           God's call to us.

    All of Matthew 25:37-46

is God's GPS, God's action plan,

for our life trip's success or

our refusal of it:

        "I was                      

         hungry                 

         thirsty

         stranger

         underclothed

         sick

            prisoner

         

Each applies widely, e.g.

    "I was thirsty" for:

         acceptance

         respect

         truth

         understanding

         inclusion

         forgiveness

         another chance

         a break

         guidance

         relationship

         being listened to

    "And you: ????????????"

- We follow God's direction by practical, 

        thorough going, truly living 

               The Beatitudes 

                      and 

        The Sermon on the Mount.

               (Matthew 5-7)

A few examples 

- 5:7 Merciful

  We take it easy on our kids when 

  they throw up three times 

  during the night,

  bedding and pajamas disasters, 

  and all this the night before 

  our 8:00 AM annual performance 

  review at work.

- 5:21-26 Anger/Enemy

  In the safety of 

  our inner, burning anger 

  we don't "murder" the co-worker 

  that routinely takes swipes at us.

-  6:1-4 Giving

   We are sensitive and discreet 

   in sharing with the needy.

- 7:1-5 Judging 

  As solid sure right 

  as we think we are,

  we just don't waste energy 

  on judging others.

- 6:5-14 Prayer

  We go alone with Our Father,

  close the door on busy/noisy.

  It's Dad/Lad/Lass Alone Time

  and sacred so it is.

- We're fine with whatever 

  spiritual state, stage,

  grace, consolation God gives -

  quiet to ecstasy.

 - We check out Pentecost.

 

     The disciples were 

        in a spinout,

        didn't know 

        where to go, 

        how to get there.

        

          The Spirit 

    steered them straight

         and strong.

         That's our 

           Go To 

      as and for well.

      It may happen 

      in prayer, 

      in a church setting, 

      in counsel with a spiritual guide,

      in the forest,

      in the shower!!!

The wonderful medieval 

theologian and mystic,

Meister Eckhart ,

said it simple and complete:

"All God asks of us is 

that we get out of the way 

and let God be God in us."

Here this week I have confessed 

my various shades and shapes 

of spiritual arrogance.

I end this confession 

close to my end 

with a witness.

In these my last days 

it's so darn good,

real and right,

to just ride easy with God

in the driver's seat.

There are some 

bumpy spans for sure.

There sure are some

smooth stretches 

and views, too.

Either way 

we are together

now unto forever.

That's the wondrous joy 

of divine intimacy.

It isn't at all that hard.  

Quite the wondrous opposite.

All it takes is to move over 

and leave the driving to God. 

            ******

GREETINGS AND WELCOME

       to all new here.

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AGAIN and ALWAYS

      THANKS

    for sharing 

 frankly speaking

   with others

   Til next week

   Love to all

   God Bless

   John Frank

         frankly speaking

   spirituality for the street

johnfrankshares.blogspot.com

               ******