WHEAT WIN

Dear All of Us,

I have dear friends on the Right.

I have dear friends on the Left.

I tag myself a Progressive Traditionalist.

My friends on the Right suspect I'm a closet Lefty

                       AND  YEP!

My friends on the Left suspect I'm a closet Righty

I hope I'm actually a centralist.

Of course that's double dangerous -

in the center you get run over 

by dump trucks of intensity

coming at you from both sides!!

Perceiving themselves as 

the only correct ones, 

both sides want the other side 

Wiped Out Totally and Now!

             Extremes

Jesus told a story about how to deal 

with living in the midst of extremes

in quite another way.

The kingdom of heaven is like

a farmer who sowed good seed 

in his field.

Under cover of night 

an enemy sewed 

weeds in with them.

They both sprang up.

The farmhands wanted 

to rip out the weeds.

The farmer said no, 

that would mean 

ripping up the wheat.

He told them to let 

the wheat and weeds 

continue to grow together.

He explained 

to the farmhands 

that at the harvest 

the matured wheat 

goes to the barn and

the weeds to the bonfire.

 See Mathew 13:24-30 

They grow up together.

They don't end up that way.

     

We are doing our best 

to be maturing wheat.

Sometimes, though, 

we just can't understand 

why God doesn't simply

weed whack the hell out of 

the weeds in our world. 

            Well,

       "God is love" 

        1 John 4:8

       Love is offered,

       never forced.

      The response is 

              free.

        The result is

         consequent.

       Wheat or Weed

         Gathered In

               or

         Burned Up

            Again,

     Matthew 13: 24-30

   Well worth more than 

     a passing ponder

.

We waste spiritual time and energy

waiting for the weeds of our day 

to be completely weed whacked away.

"Ain't gonna happen" until the harvest.

There's Kingdom living and growing right now.

There is just the opposite, Empire.

Wheat and Weeds.

Evil there is.

Good there is.

We let God grow us good 

in the midst of evil.

About that evil, well,

we do all we can 

to redress evil injustice.

      That's a lot.

What we are able to do, though, 

will be in the midst of evil

until the harvest.

We won't let evil weeds 

slow us down.

We are busy growing in 

       God's Love

We have a Kingdom Life 

       to live now

           and

  ever more and more,

           and

          finally 

    Harvest Forever.

        Ours is a 

      WHEAT WIN

         ******

      

       AS PROMISED

   SOME WEEKS BACK

    RECOMENDATION

              OF

     A FINE CHURCH, 

    OFFERING ONLINE

         WORSHIP

St. Paul's Lutheran Church

          LITITZ. PA.

A long-established church

     happily growing

 in numbers and ministry

        - all ages -

Many younger families.

Traditional liturgy in a 

tasteful, prayerful, calm

         manner.

Outstanding children's ministry.

Wonderful and gifted pastor.

Excellent sermons.

Please check their website.

           ******

           WELCOME

                to

         frankly speaking

    spirituality for the street

johnfrankshares.blogspot.com

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          LOVE TO ALL.

          GOD BLESS,

          JOHN FRANK

             ******

        frankly speaking

   spirituality for the street

johnfrankshares.blogspot.com

 

 

INFLUENCERS

Dear All of Us, 

You know what, 

which of course means 

I'd really like to share something

that I feel is big time important.

It's this.

       We're all 

    INFLUENCERS

Not the phony, foolish 

Influencers of media, 

but us right in the midst  

of everyday life.

Aware or not,

we're all telling

every person we meet

what life is all about.

That goes for a simple

           "Hi"

to the deepest of sharings,

a chat at the water cooler

to teaching a teen to drive.

        We speak 

     life's meaning

   in our living of it.

      That happens 

      in the midst of

      passing people

      to being with     

 profoundly close people.

          We are

      INFLUENCERS

    We have an effect.

Every gesture, decision, 

action, stance, reaction

          of ours

      is graphicly

      telling the tale

      of what life is about.

It's not so much 

told in words 

as in ways.

The ways we value, 

respond, interact,

choose, cherish,  

comport, drive,

dress, invest...

Everything about us 

     speaks!!

Turning the tale 

round another way,

every person 

we meet

is asking us to

  "Tell me what life 

    is all about."

It's almost

completely unconscious,

is deep, deep inside,

but it's profoundly telling,

    All this is at the heart of 

every contact and interaction.

    

    We all hear way deeper 

    than with our ears,

    see way wider 

    than with our eyes.

Demeanor, responsiveness, 

       attitude, mood,

give voice to telling the story

of what life is about. 

All this is ever so subtle

and easily missed.

     It effects 

anyway and always.

We are full time

INFLUENCERS

A look can kill.

A look can comfort and confirm.

A word can rip out a heart.

A word can heal a broken one.

In telling the tale we get to

      model and echo 

  the greatest of tellings,

          NATURE

            and

    JESUS THE CHRIST

       Pure God Tell

       Incarnations 

             of

       GOD GOOD 

  - the symmetry of 

    seasons and stars,

    the Sermon on the Mount,

    the power of atoms,

    the core direction in life:

            Love God 

       with all you've got 

       and your neighbor 

       as yourself.

         Matthew 22:37

      It shows.

      It influences.

What Richard Rohr says 

about talking 

can guide 

all action and reaction,

all the ways 

we influence and tell 

what life is about:

       Is it true 

       Is it loving  

       Is it necessary

Groove in with the 

beauty, rightness 

and wisdom of

God Given

Nature,

contemporize 

the goodness of

what Jesus 

said and did

     and 

we're privileged 

     to be

   right real

      LIFE

INFLUENCERS

    ******

"I have come that

 you might have life 

 and have it to the full."

   The Influencer 

        Jesus

    John 10:10

   

When we get together here 

every week it's a great big

Convergence of Influencers.

Lot of support there.

       Welcome all!

ONLINE POSTINGS

Wednesday evenings

East Coast USA time.

How good that so many of us 

         are sharing 

     frankly speaking 

        with others.

RECENT PAST POSTINGS

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   Have a great week.

   See you in seven.

      Love to all.

      God Bless,

      John Frank

         frankly speaking

   spirituality for the street

johnfrankshares.blogspot.com

             ******
   

              

AWARE

            Dear All of Us,

Each week here we huddle around

  "spirituality for the street"

    The skinny on the street

           right now is

           flashing red.

       It's a danger zone

     all around and ahead.

                

             Time to

      Be aware of what 

      we get used to.

The dangers on 

our streets of life just now 

are so significant 

that getting used to them

is itself a great danger.

It dulls our spirits.

It blurs our consciousness and conscience.

It desensitizes soul and society.

It inclines acceptance of evil as 

inevitable and acceptable

and that is an incline downward

to a hell of an outcome.

 

Can we learn from our history?

A noted here a few weeks ago,

we do well to consider 

how Hitler lied so 

thoroughly and consistently

that a nation fell for it, 

got used to it, 

went along with it

eventually fell in ruins

because of it

after taking down 

to death and destruction 

a wide swath of nations 

and millions of people.

      "Never Again"?

        Not really! 

In our not so right now

         we need 

   to hear and heed 

          Jesus

     He cautions us: 

"Be wise as a serpent and

 guileless as a dove"

      Matthew 10:16

Free translation:

Be actively aware of 

what's coming down and 

don't go down with it.

Don't lose your purity of spirit

in the process.

What Jesus says in another setting

               (or is it?)

can be applied to us in the worldwide 

       fake out of kingpins in 

government, technology and media 

               right now.

They are priests and prophets 

          (and for profit)

in the pulpits of society's secular religion, 

sometimes even daring to call it 

Christion Nationalism.

               Jesus says:

"Fake Messiahs and lying preachers 

 are going to pop up everywhere. 

 Their impressive credentials 

 and dazzling performances 

 will pull the wool over the eyes 

 of even those who ought to know better. 

 But I've given you fair warning.

           Mattew 24:24

           The Message

Our spirituality and society depend on 

taking to heart and action Jesus'

           "fair warming".

 So far we're warring and wearing down.

Three out of hundreds of examples:

 

                         GOVERNMENT

           The leaders of my homeland (USA )

                initiated and are engaged in

                      what has become 

                an expanding regional war 

                    and done so without

              congressional authorization 

                   or Senate challenge

               Because of this widening war 

           thousands of lives have been taken, 

                  many more thousands of 

               minds have been traumatized, 

               bodies damaged and disfigured. 

         A conservative statement of cost so far is 

                     37.5 billion dollars.

       (think of the good that could have done)

          International commerce and costs

        have significantly suffered in the scramble.

 There is no clear, consistent cause given for this war.

      The war fails to be even close to the old

                      Just War Theory 

                       for validation.

 Pope Leo has said that and that the war is unjustified.

                   It's mindless madness.

         

             WE DARE NOT GET USED TO IT

                      

                       TECHNOLOGY

          The lads and lasses in Silicon Valley 

               have created a capacity 

       that can potentially go rouge to our ruin.

             Just a week or more ago  

             it happened at Open AI.

          Two of its most capable models 

                       on their own 

                  broke out of training 

             for a successful cyberattack 

                    of Happy Face 

            - everything was breached.

                 In the medical field 

     there are strict government regulations 

     when working with dangerous viruses.

           AI and government leaders 

    have flipflopped and failed to establish 

             adequate guardrails for

           what can turn out to be the 

             Monster of our Demise.

           

         WE DARE NOT GET USED TO IT

                          

                        MEDIA

     Truth has been thrown under the bus 

              and driven over dead.

             At the World Cup Final 

                  Fox News live

           showed President Trump 

           walking across the field 

         to give the Cup Presentation.

         Fox News cut out the audio 

      as the crowd booed the president 

        and covered by playing music.

For the sake of our souls, sanity, and society

        WE DARE NOT GET USED TO IT

          

There is little we can change of creeping corruption

in government, technology or media.

We can, though, be aware,

not fall for or settle for it.

However, there's so much we can be and do

on the streets where we live.

We can bond with others in communities 

pure and fresh, living the truth, beauty, joy of

                    Kingdom Now.

In our dealings and relationships we can let 

the dynamic of God Love flow freely 

in what we say and do, e.g.

      Say: Is it true, loving and necessary? 

      Do:  Live modestly and help the needy extravagantly.

We can put into play and personalize 

The Sermon On The Mount - all of it.

We can dive deep in loving prayer with our Abba

receiving the clarity and courage we need

             to be real and right 

    in unreal times and crooked ways.

     We can take the words and ways of 

                      Jesus 

                   to be ours.

       That will keep pure and true 

               both our souls 

                      and

         our stretch of the street.

                WE DARE TO BE 

                      AWARE

                      ******

           WHAT A WOMDROUS AWARENESS

           TO HAVE SO MANY NEW FRINDS

           FROM SUCH A VARITY OF NATIONS

           JOINING IN WITH US EACH WEEK.

                         WELCOME!

                     ONLINE POSTING

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                              WITH 

               FAMILY - FRIENDS - COLLEAUGES

                        EVERY GOODNESS

                      SEE YOU NEXT WEEK
   

                           LOVE TO ALL 

                           GOD BLESS

                           JOHN FRANK

                         frankly speaking

                    spirituality for the street

                 johnfrankshares.blogspot.com

                               ******

   

       

WORRY FREE

Dear All of Us,

So, let's get right to it.

How's the retirement portfolio doing?

Any worries there?

While we're at it, what about 

those cholesterol numbers?

Scanning social, 

just how safe and secure 

is our now and 

our kids'/grandkids' when/then?

Losing any sleep over relationships 

(or anything else)?

Lots to worry about, right?

So here comes Jesus telling us

        "Do not worry".

            Whaaah?

Has He visited our head, heart, health, 

country, church, neighborhood, family, 

the international (ob)scene 

in the last ten minutes?

Worry is probably one of 

the top ten preoccupations 

for most of us, right?

Right but Wrong.

Worry wrongs us.

Worry wastes us.

Worry only achieves one thing - it drains us.

Worry steals energy, peace of mind, trust.

Speaking of trust, Jesus does.

He tells us that we are of such value 

to The Father that we can 

              absolutely 

               count on

                 and 

                trust 

  The Father to take care of us 

          and our needs.

No portfolio manager, 

pharmaceutical, possession, 

position, can give us that 

absolute assurance.

A lived acceptance is faith.

It all comes down to 

whom/what do we trust?

The Father has so much 

to give us and

give through us.

Worry just frustrates the flow.

We lose freedom and energy.

Worry chokes off much of 

who we can be and 

what we can do.

Let's check out 

The Message translation 

of Matthew 6:1-34.

Here's an excerpt:

Jesus is speaking

 "What I'm trying to do here 

  is to get you to relax, 

  to not be so preoccupied with getting, 

           (security blankets)

   so you can respond to God's giving...

  Steep your life 

  in God-reality, 

  God-initiative, God provisions. 

  Don't worry about missing out. 

  You'll find all your everyday 

  human concerns will be met. 

       Matthew 6:32-33

Concern yes, worry no.

We do well to be concerned about 

the wellbeing of ourselves, others,

the health of Mother Nature,

social justice,

the unity of our communities,

the safety of family and friends.

Those concerns may bring sorrow

to our hearts at 

the distress and suffering of others.

We suffer it in love.

We don't let it  degenerate to 

debilitating worry.

We don't let worry syphon off 

our concern and care.

How do we not worry?

To put it bluntly,

we mind our own business.

We refuse to focus on 

and fuss about things 

that are not our responsibility,

about things we cannot 

remedy or correct:

- the state of the world

- a friend or family member

  who just cannot 

  get settled in adult life

- a difficulty we have 

  that cannot be resolved

   (e.g. health, relationship)

- we steer clear of "worry wallows" 

   such as 24/7 news and views, 

   sick social media,

   being pod casted down/drowned,

   wearisome, worrisome

   conversations and attentions,

   fixation on our bodies, money, 

   position and possessions. 

We do mind our own business.

We focus on and address things 

that are our responsibility:

- we trust that God 

   is crazy nuts about us and 

   will be our base of 

   support and security

 - in other words, 

   we don't play God, 

   but we play along with God 

   (and often it is wondrously just that - play).

   God will do a smack up good job for us

   if we just don't get in the worry way

- we get busy being who and how 

  we are by God's Creative Gift

  (not some wort wart self)

- we put energy into 

  people and things that 

  actually are our concern,

  solve what we can,

  support as much as can

  and no more.

- in prayer we notice 

  and thank God for His

  care of us and the world.

  

A worry wart is 

a debilitating spiritual blemish.

          God Trust 

                is 

a radiant spiritual complexion.

God Trust makes us go/glow

          WORRY FREE  

                   ******

          IT'S A JOY AND BLESSING 

    TO HAVE SO MANY NEW VISITORS.

                  WELCOME

            ONLINE POSTINGS

            WEDNESDAY EVENINGS

            EAST COAST USA TIME

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  THANKS FOR CONTINUING TO SHARE 

               frankly speaking  

          spirituality for the street

                 WITH OTHERS

                 IN GOD TRUST
     

                 MAY WE ALL BE 

                 WORRY FREE
      

                 LOVE TO ALL

            SEE YOU NEXT WEEK 

                  GOD BLESS

                  JOHN FRANK

                  frankly speaking

            spirituality for the street

         johnfrankshares.blogspot.com

                       ******

 

LOOK-A-LIKE

Dear All of Us,

At first flash 

it seems like 

just a simple kid's 

Sunday School activity.

It's way, 

way more!!

So, here goes

and I sure hope 

we all "goes" with it!

     If Jeus showed up 

     right now,

     what would 

     he look like?

A man or a woman?

     Absolutely.

A Swiss, Swede,

Asian, African,

American?

      Definitely.

Conservative or liberal?

        Clearly.

Teen, twenty something,

middle aged, elderly?

       Count on it.

Rich, poor,

good looking, plain,

introvert, extrovert,

tech savvy, land liner,

Protestant, Jew, Catholic,

urban, rural?

         For sure.

         And now 

        The Biggie.

 WOULD JESUS LOOK LIKE 

       YOU AND ME?

He sure wants to.

Jesus counts on 

you, me, those

Sunday school kids,

all of us to be his 

  LOOK-A -LIKE 

so much so that 

He actually 

    shows up in

         US

"I live now not I,

 but Christ lives in me."

   Galatians 2:20

Together we actually are

   The Body of Christ.

1 Corinthians 12:12-27

Jesus The Christ

has so much good to do 

for each and every person 

in the world, indeed,

for the whole wide world.

And He is banking 

on doing it through us.

He counts on us to

presence Him,

"person" Him

in our way,

time and place. 

That's why there are 

so many and varied of us 

in The Body of Christ

worldwide.

Yes, there sure is 

a lot to be and do,

a lot to save and sanctify.

      

        To Save 

          from 

darkness and confusion

of mind and spirit,

wasting people and place

for the power and privilege

of the few, 

isolating me-ism,

Empire' s hellish rule

of injustice and violence,

the rape of Mother Nature,

media doping,

war waging,

hording unto severe inequality

for many too much,

false gods of materialism and

success on the backs 

of disenfranchised peoples.

         

         To Sanctify

              by

being living invitations to join 

the joy of life together

right here and now in

The Kingdom of God,

glowing in grace 

accepted and active,

purifying the streams of

communication and commerce,

using what we need and

sharing the rest with the needy,

helping Nature repair and renew,

stopping the bus of inclusion 

at every intersection of the left outs

and onboarding all,

letting the Truth make us all free 

            (John 8:32)

in all our stances and tellings.

Jesus has tons more 

to save and sanctify.

               He is 

"the way, the truth and the life." 

              to do it.

           (John 4:6)

We get to be in on the sharing.

We get to presence and person him

so much and truly so that we turn out 

to be way more than just a 

            Look-A-Like

              ******

        

     A WARM SUMMER WELCOME

                   TO

            EACH AND ALL

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             frankly speaking

       spirituality for the street

    johnfrankshares.blogspot.com

            See you next week.

            What a joy for all of us 

            to bear such a 

            striking resemblance 

            to Jesus The Christ!

                 Love to all.

                 God Bless,

                 John Frank

                  ******

 

 

SAIL

Dear All of Us,

"Come on everybody. 

 Let's go sailing."

What?

Don't know how, 

are afraid,

not interested,

are landlocked,

too old, 

too klutzy,

have too dry 

a sense of humor?

  - Couldn't resist  :)

Well, actually we all 

started sailing

when we started.

That's because 

LIFE IS A FLOW

Hoist our sails,

catch the wind 

just right and 

a-sailing we go,

If we refuse 

to adjust our sails

to the wind,

we stall out, 

go wrong,

or collide, 

or go nowhere, 

or take on water, 

even sink.

     This Life Flow is 

          SPIRIT

      - (L) spiritus:

        wind, breath -

       It is the very

  HOLY SPIRIT OF GOD

the Energy of the Universe,

         and all in it 

      

          It is the 

   Dynamic of Creation

            the 

         Out Flow 

            of 

  The Love That Is Gid

        1 John 4:8

In sailing we can neither

create nor control the wind.

What we can do is adjust to it,

catch it as it flows,

be carried by it.

It's exactly the same 

in our spiritual lives.

So sadly much 

time and energy,

for way too many 

is wasted trying 

to create and control

our life's spiritual flow,

all sorts of 

practices, 

programs,

devotions,

disciplines,

ascetical strivings,

trying to 

white knuckling it

to perfection.

All wrong!

A self-designed 

effort and venture

simply/sadly

puts us

way off course.

LIFE IS A GIVEN NOT A GET

WE GET TO GO WITH IT

That does not mean 

we are passive or inert.

Not at all!!

It is ours 

to be very active,

cooperating with, 

living out,

what is given.

We do that by 

freely and fully

accepting, 

embracing,

going with, 

working with,

The Spirit Flow 

   AS GIVEN

hoisting our sails to

  CATCH THE SPIRIT.

We're then on our way

          to go  

  as we are meant 

          to be,

          to share

  what we are given

         to give.

         

            Given

    "God's various gifts 

     are handed out everywhere, 

     but they all originate in 

     God's Spirit...

     Each person is given 

     something to do 

     that shoes who God is... 

     All kinds of things 

     are handed out 

     by the Spirit, and

     to all kinds of people."

      Please see all of

  1 Corinthians 12:1-11

       The Message

   

Let's think/pray 

about that.

What flow of gifts,

    gifts of 

body and mind, 

place, personality, 

temperament,

soul, opportunity,

skill, strength, 

ability, talent

sweep through us?

More correctly, 

what is given to us 

to be given by us?

What are 

the needs

and potentials

in the air 

about us 

that we can 

fill/develop?

Hoisting the sails 

         of 

   acceptance 

        and 

   engagement, 

         the

 Spirit Steers us 

    real/right.

Jesus put it this way:

    "You know well enough 

      how the wind blows 

      this way and that.

      You hear it rustling 

      through the trees, but

      you have no idea 

      where it comes from or 

      where it's headed next. 

      That's the way it is 

      with everyone 

      born from above by 

      the wind of God,

      the Spirit of God."

        John 3:8

      The Message

God has a way for us 

to be swept up in the 

Love Flow That Is God.

Yes indeed,

 in - "deed"!

Hoist our sails of 

acceptance and 

engagement and

do we ever

     SAIL

   ******

     WELCOME 

    ONE AND ALL

           

    ONLINE POSTINGS 

            NOW 

WEDNESDAY EVENINGS

   East Coast USA time 

  RECENT POSTINGS 

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     Praying we all 

     flow go 

     in the 

     SPRITUS.

     Til next week.

     Love to all.

     God Bless,

     John Frank

      ******