SHOWING UP

Dear All of Us,

So what's up 

with God anyway?

Where is He?

Is God 

Missing In Action?

Is He a 

No Show 

about to lose 

his God job 

for that? 

Come on already. 

God is supposed to be 

       All Good, 

        right?

Well Hey, things are 

pretty darn far from 

      All Good

    these days.

Jesus talked about

"Thy kingdom come 

on earth as it is in heaven."

That was two thousand years ago.

Even the US Postal Service 

delivers better than that.

So where is it?

Will God ever deliver and 

the kingdom finally come?

As per the above,

some people are

pretty tough on God 

and in varying degrees

so are way too many 

wearisome, whinny others.

     

    And can I ever 

    hear Jesus being

    tough on the fuss

     about this not

     SHOWING UP 

 business and gripping.

 It's sort of a redux of:

  "The people are blockheads!

   They stick their fingers 

   in their ears so 

   they won't have to listen;

   They screw their eyes shut

   so they won't have to look,

   so they won't have 

   to deal with me

   face to face

   and let me heal them."

           Jesus

     Matthew 13:15

      The Message

Let's check all this out a bit.

We want to make sure 

we don't get bite by the bug 

               and 

that we can help those bitten.

In all reality

God is 

front and center,

on the job,

right before 

our noses and 

all about.

Hold a baby.

Go hiking,

Sing a song.

Have a beer.

Read scripture.

Enjoy a 

neighborhood

cookout.

Read some poetry. 

Garden. 

Go to a concert.

See Creation bust 

Spring Beautiful.

Watch kids play.

Better yet,

join them!

And don't forget to

mellow with an elder

"Come on over!" :)

God Good aplenty

and all around.

The Kingdom? 

Well, it has come 

and it is coming.

It's already 

and not fully 

in our midst.

The problem is 

lots of people 

want it all

   and 

yesterday.

Yah know what,

       we're 

not in charge here

       AND 

too often and much

those media maimed

        and 

the self-centered  

         are 

deaf and blind to

The Good of God 

         and 

The Kingdom of God

vibrantly active

all about and 

     and 

vigorously so! 

There is a need

    to be

 healed open.

That happens by 

dealing with God 

"face to face"

In his pure luminosity

we face evil,

the Kingdom Satanic,

We face God Goodness,

the very 

Kingdom of God.

            

Let's take 

a look and a listen.

Let's keep facing God

and help others to do

     holy same.

Yes, things are 

more than a mess.

The far left 

has mushed flat a

mountain of morals.

Relativity and 

permissiveness

run riot rot.

It has tied up tight 

a lot of freedoms

        and 

    initiatives 

     by over 

   legislating

       and 

   regulating

   in a try at

   creating

some sort of a

  La-La Land.

It's a faux fantasy, 

not at all liberating.

Good intentions

often foul/foil

free, healthy, 

unregulated

expressions.

Ask any artist.

Yes, things are 

more than a mess 

on the far right, too. 

Government 

     and 

    Tech 

  Despots

of this world 

have let loose 

a devastation of 

people and planet.

It's heinous,

people playing God. 

What they do

is far from 

anything close to

   God Good.

It is an attempt 

to exalt and deify ego,

      their ego's,

misusing God Given Good 

for self, for prominence, 

power, and pleasure, 

e.g. the Bezos wedding 

      costing over 

      $50 Million Dollars,

e.g. the War in Iran costing 

       thousands of lives,

       many more thousands 

       traumatized for life, 

       disordered international

       balance and commerce

              and so far 

                over 

       $29 Billion Dollars.

Both extremes,

left and right,

number those 

who grab the most

while most worldwide

don't have enough

to hold on to.

We need to face all this.

They obstruct sight of  

      God Good

The Kingdom of God

   SHOWING UP

We also need 

to face the fact that 

Creation unfolds 

minute to mighty 

   magnificent.

Mountain majesties.

Crop plentiful plains.

Pure, surging waterways.

Abundance of scientific advances,

energy pulses to planets.

God painting morning bright

on sky canvas.

Life and beauty

in the earth, 

all across it,

in flight above it.

In Creation

God dazzles 

Showing Up.

In harmony and tandem

are the vast majority of

people worldwide 

busy living 

God's Goodness,

faithfully, generously, 

matter-of-factly,

some heroically,

at home, at work,

in school and 

neighborhood

- steady lights in 

  the midst of 

  Empire's dark.

         

        They are 

  alive and enlivening

        as part of 

  The Kingdom of God

    come and coming.

           They 

        SHOW UP

         steadily  

         lovingly

         generously,

         justly,

         joyfully,

           and

    

    God shows up 

      in them all.

      

      They are

 Kingdom People

  

The media does not share

God showing up in

them or Creation.

The media is mostly

in the service of 

Satanic Empire.

It's dark and it darkens

our consciousness 

and our spirits,

our world view and sense.

It effects us down cast.

It infects us deep dark.

We really must turn off

blatantly bent untruthful

      news outlets

      and all the 

social media platforms 

         that

    talk us dark  

    blind side us 

    deafen deny 

   God Goodness 

         and 

   His right now 

     Kingdom.

Yes, I'm fired up 

and I'm speaking up.

I challenge my friends 

on the right

who refuse to see, 

who will not hear, 

the wrong 

of White Christian Nationalism,

of militarism as moral muscle, 

of overpowering democratic process,

of planetary degradation.

   

I challenge my friends 

on the left

who refuse to see,

who will not hear,

the wrong of their

cramping regulations,

their dithering on and on

about social justice and 

doing not much more about it

than helping at a food bank.

They tend to promote the 

singular to the detriment of 

the ordinary and common.

They're big on pronouns. 

They and their opposites 

on the right 

are short on diversities 

of thought and practice

they don't approve.

Both extremes block us

from seeing/hearing 

      God Good,

The Kingdom of God

    SHOWING UP

      all about.

I challenge both  

for refusing 

to see and hear 

that they are often 

part of the dark

with their 

way beyond need 

accumulation of money,

"stuff", luxuries, e.g. 

regular carbon gushers 

of expensive pleasure travels,

of forever going to seminars

and rallies, signing petitions 

and not breaking a sweat to 

dedicate means and muscle  

to inconvenient things like 

underwriting the education 

of a poor child,

giving one Saturday a month

of sweat equity at 

Habitat For Humanity,

being open to the possibility 

that those on the other side

might just be right 

about some needed 

critical, cultural corrections,

of not facing God 

in the faces of 

the opposite,

the needy 

beyond the gates 

of their privilege. 

Quite frankly,

God is present and active

in unfolding Creation,  

in Kingdom communities,

in souls bright for peace 

like Pope Leo,

in millions of singles, 

couples, families 

genuinely and practically living 

The Sermon on the Mount, 

animated by The Holy Spirit,

in community,

in their care for 

children, 

the elderly,

the needy,

the vulnerable,

all forms of life, 

the earth, air and sea,

growing prayerfully deep.

For all the dark,

they make 

light bright.

   You know what?

   God sure does 

     SHOW UP

      May we 

  see it, hear it,

      face it

and help others so.

We get to join in

        as

       God 

    so really 

   right now,

   right here 

        is

 SHOWING UP

     ******

How good it is that 

       we all 

are in on this weekly

    Showing Up

   here together,

        One 

In God's Goodness.

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       SHARING 

   frankly speaking

      with others.

God keeps on showing up.

Let's keep on joining him.

See you next week.

Love to all.

God Bless,

John Frank

        frankly speaking

   spirituality for the street

johnfrankshares.blogspot.com

              ******

 

 

    

TIME

 Dear All of Us,

       TIME

"Do you have 

 a little time 

 to spare?"

"Got a minute?"

"How long does it take?"

"You're on the clock."

We sure are.

   We are 

time obsessed 

     and

fast is first.

Well, let's slow it down 

minutes many 

and prayerfully so.

How long 

does it take to pray 

The Lord's Prayer?

Timed typical, 

less than thirty seconds.

That's like eating 

a seven-course dinner in a

Michelin Five Star Restaurant

in ten minutes.

A LOT IS MISSED.

Banging out

The Lord's Prayer

in under 

thirty seconds,

we barely have time 

to give God a nod.

Compounding 

the fly by is that 

The Lord's Prayer 

was never meant 

to be prayed together 

or in church.

Before the pastor 

sends someone out 

for matches 

to burn me 

at the stake,

here's what 

Jesus says about 

how and where we pray 

the prayer he wants 

to teach our hearts.

  "But whenever you pray, 

   go into your room 

   close the door and

   pray to your Father

   who is in unseen...

   This, then, is how 

   you should pray:

   Our Father in heaven..."

        Matthew 6:6&9

              NIV

By comparison:

We don't make love in public 

because it is so intimate.

We don't put it on a timer.

It transports timeless.

Same for praying

and certainly 

The Lord's Prayer.

A help here is to

slow go it with 

The Lord's Prayer.

We step away from

rush rattled addled.

We close the door on

cultural cacophony.

We ease into it, 

divine delightful.

We're home safe.

We take each portion

of the prayer slowly

and let it take us 

into the embrace of 

Our Father.

So, OK.

If this is about 

all the time 

some here have 

this time round,

every goodness. 

See you next week.

For those of us 

who have time,

let's meet up for

THE LORD'S PRAYER

    REFLECTIONS

attached below

at the end of 

this posting and 

       Soul Savor

what Jesus serves up in

The Lord's Prayer.

It'll take a little time.

Love making always does.

          ******

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    PREVIOUS POSTINGS

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       this posting.

    Again and Always

          Thanks

       for sharing

    frankly speaking

      with others.

        ******

  THE LORD'S PRAYER

      REFLECTIONS

There is no timetable here.

       There are no 

word, concept, aspirational 

     quotas to meet.

  Performance Reviews 

       don't exist.

If we pause on one word 

the whole time we are 

    God embraced, 

           well, 

  we're God embraced!

That's just plain DIVINE.

It more than qualifies 

as prayer.

No matter our 

age, stage, sage,

we are a kid, 

daddy wanted warm. 

This is the most difficult

mode and manner 

for sadly many.

It takes time and try

to right it,

to relax into it.

For all our sense of

sufficiency and 

sophistication,

for all our

fumbles and faults,

we get to be 

who we really are, 

a cherished child,

wanted and safe.

We can laugh, 

cry, complain, ask, 

in the embrace of

   Our Father

We can play, snuggle,

dance, tease, rest,

pour forth 

hurts and joys,

needs and thanks.

Jesus shares some

points, ways and words

for starters.

This is prayer, 

a launch for

free form love.

It may take us 

off script.

The point is prayer.

The point is being 

free secure in 

  Our Father

We are neither 

Spirit nor scripted tight.

   Here's an example.

      "Our Father..."

All scripture scholars agree 

that the word translated 

         "Father" 

     is way off mark 

     and off putting.

The closest word 

in English to 

the Hebrew word 

Jesus gave us is not

       Father 

        It is 

     "Daddy"

Can we loosen up, 

let go our status, 

achievements, 

supposed

self-sufficiency,

and just be 

the kid we are 

right at home 

     with 

    Daddy? 

     Hey! 

  There's no

  other way!!

    "I'm telling you, 

     once and for all, 

     that unless you 

     return to square one 

     and start over 

     like children, 

     you're not even 

     going to get a look 

     at the kingdom, 

     let alone get in. 

     Whoever 

     becomes 

     simple and 

     elemental again, 

     like this child, 

     will rank high in

     God's kingdom.

     What's more,

     when you receive  

     the childlike 

     on my account

     it's the same as 

     receiving me."

     Matthew18:3-6

       The Message

    What Come Union!

            Hey 

   There's NO other way!

Oh, if we could just get 

Vladamir Putin, 

Xi Jinping,

Donald Trump, 

Benjamin Netanyahu,

the ruling Iranian military,

Jeff Bezos,

Mark Zukerberg, 

Matt Altman,

their kind and ruling clans,

to accept and live this.

And then, of course,

there's us.

How many of us

    really do 

accept and live this,

       as in 

     REALLY?

Church going 

is one thing.

Dabbling 

in the spiritual 

is another.

Really 

hearing, 

accepting, 

living 

this is the

  ONLY ONE

  that counts.

There's more than  

a month of honest

prayer, meditation, 

   conversion

       here.

Admittedly I have been 

a bit confessional of late.

Well, there's more. 

I confess that after years of 

church going/doing,

neck deep in theology,

swamped in spirituality,

only late in life 

have I actually begun 

to grow up to be a 

        Child 

         in 

       God's 

     Embrace.

    

    Sounds 

  paradoxical.

    It isn't.

    It's the 

  ONLY WAY

  for us all.

     It's 

   TIME

  ******

Praying for you.

Counting on your prayer 

for me and all of us 

who gather each week 

here at

       frankly speaking

  spirituality for the street

johnfrankshares.blogspot.com

           Love to all.

           God Bless,

           John Frank

            ******

    

    

 

 

           

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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           THURSDAY MORNINGS

           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.

ONLINE POSTINGS

Thursday Mornings

East Coast USA time.

PAST POSTINGS

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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

               ******