Friday, April 27, 2018
SNUGGLE
Hi There !
So, do you like to snuggle?
Hope so!
It's the ultimate way to be with another.
What's that???
Can you hear those wise acres among us
starting to chuckle and question
what kind of an intimate life I've had?
I sure can.
My response is a knowing smile and
the wish,
" You should be so lucky!!"
Yes, yes, I know the going thing
in our culture is the goal of a red hot,
"Hope the neighbors don't hear us,"
Fourth of July fire works sex life.
That's assumed to be
"the ultimate way to be with another."
Well, that's an illusion
of our sex soaked society .
The Fourth of July is once a year and
folks are lucky if once a year ( or two )
their experience is anything like
the intensity of the fireworks
on the Fourth.
Sex has many moments and modes
like every other form of human closeness.
But it doesn't have the market cornered.
If it did, children, the celibate,
singles not in an intimate relationship,
many senior adults would be iced out
by nature ( God ) from
"the ultimate way to be with another."
At its best sex is one
of innumerable ways to snuggle.
Snuggling is acceptance.
Snuggling is giving.
Such is comfortable,
safe and secure.
It is a "so closeness"
as to be a oneness,
oneness in in all its peaceful,
tender, beautiful variations.
We are serenely together.
Snuggling is not a head thing.
It isn't limited by thinking.
It is a matter of the limitless heart.
Our essential, sacred, deepest self
folds into that of another
as the other is hardly another anymore.
Oneness.
Harmony.
Calm stillness.
Free to relax into each other.
"Being Oneness."
It would be helpful here
for each of us to consider
our foundational experience
of snuggling.
See it, feel it.
For me it was those
just perfect moments
in childhood when my mother and I
snuggled up in a soft chair,
or on the front porch swing.
There was a quiet warmth to it.
A wonderful oneness.
No talk.
No thinking.
Just gentle wholeness transporting
to sheer goodness.
Most of us work hard at relationships,
at trying to be close to others.
That's appropriate, good, even necessary.
We need to learn how to read each other,
stretch and share generously,
to compromise when it's balanced.
There come moments, though,
when we grow past ideas, words,
plans, activities.
We mellow into mystery,
the mystery of life,
life enfleshed in the beloved.
We snuggle
one way or other of thousands.
I'm convinced that's what
Jesus meant when he invited us
to be right at home with him,
to snuggle.
Live in me.
Make your home in me
just as I do in you...
I have loved you
the way my Father
has loved me.
Make yourself at home
in my love.
John 15:4
( The Message )
Yes, snuggling is the ultimate way
to be with another.
Our spiritual lives out here
on the street of everyday living
are at heart just that -
a matter of the heart.
Snuggled in
The Love Who Is God,
we live out that love,
that union,
in all sorts of enfleshments,
times, places and ways.
God is a snuggle away.
For example:
- rocking a baby to sleep
- a meditative walk in the park
- having good food and drink
with family and friends
- asking a lonely person how
they are and listening attentively
as they tell you for
the next half hour ( or more )
-getting lost in the divine form and color
of an English Garden
- curling up with your lover
to watch the golden sun set
- blending into some really good music
- slowly savoring a poem by Mary Oliver
- gathering with others to work
for the common good
politically, socially,
environmentally, economically
- uniting with others
in a spirit freeing community
of worship and service.
Most of all, we go to a quiet place
by ourselves not to be by ourselves.
We close out everything,
opening to All.
Being "at home,"
snuggling up with God,
is the best of the best snuggles,
"the ultimate way to be with another"
who paradoxically is and is not another,
but neither of us is paying attention to that!!
Thanks for the blessing of your company.
Holding you and all in love as
we snuggle with God.
John Frank
*****
We continue to be gifted
with new sharers here at
"frankly speaking."
Three new homelands are now part
of our union: Ghana, Japan, New Zealand
Welcome !!
Also, thanks to so many
who have told friends
of our weekly sharing here,
and those who reference us
on Facebook or other media.
For those new here,
"frankly speaking" is posted
at the end of the week online at
johnfrankshares.blogspot.com
and can be bookmarked for easy access.
It is also available automatically
by email.
Please see the sign up at the top right
of the online version.
Past posting are accessible from
the Blog Archive at the
bottom right of the online version.
***********************************************************************************
.
Friday, April 20, 2018
MESSEY MAGNIFICENCE
Hi There !
So, how is it with you?
Do you prefer neat and tidy,
or just artfully dodge "accumulage"?
Do you hate and despise twenty connecting flight
to get from Newark to Topeka,
or do you just bring a lengthy novel along
as you bounce around the lower forty eight?
How about your car?
Do you wash it regularly,
or just leave that up to the rain?
And then the bills.
Are they paid upon arrival,
or just "whenever"?
Well, whatever our preferences
(should that read "neurosis"?) ,
our spiritual lives out here
on the street of everyday living
are decidedly more like the latter - messy!
Sure, we can get from here to there spiritually,
but not quickly nor neatly.
There are no direct flights to holiness
( wholeness, enlightenment, Nirvana, perfection,
heaven, sanctification, or whatever we choose to call it ).
Paradoxically, though, we can be both be there
and far from it at the same time -
be swept up in contemplative ecstasy
and check out some porn all on the same day
( make that "lust in our heart" for those
afraid of a digital trail to "The Cloud,"
and not any heavenly one at that).
That's because our spiritual lives
are not a straight line experience,
but rather an expanding spiral
within spirals of yes and no, real and unreal,
light and dark, sin and grace, peace and turmoil -
all together a messy magnificence
as we zig zag our way along.
We not know this,
we discount this, at our own peril.
Way too many "spiritualities"
do that to folks - just a touch of this mantra
and a dab of that meditation technique,
the practice of these sure fire ascetical practices,
add in a few fail proof disciplines,
and in five easy steps you'll be a certified mystic.
NO WAY
and
NEVER EVER !!
To see and sense this ever so clearly
be sure to check out
one of the greatest major-leagures
in the history of spirituality.
He and his clan both hit grand slams
and struck out all the way
to a championship season of the spirit.
The three monotheistic religions of the world
mark their foundation in the person and faith journey
of Abram become Abraham,
"Our Father in Faith."
It would be an eye opener,
indeed an eye popping experience,
to invest an hour reading the story
of Abraham and his clan
in Genesis 12:! - 25: 11.
Then go back over it a bit at a time,
and that for a long time.
It's definitely adult reading -
X-Rated,
not the flannel board stuff of Sunday School.
Yet it is the story of heroic faith and trust.
There is a messy magnificence to it.
It is Survivors, All in the Family,
Sister Act, Let's Make a Deal,
Sex in the City, assorted soap operas
and B Rated Movies, The Sound of Music,
Beauty and the Best, A Man For All Seasons,
Under the Tuscan Sun, Wonder,
I Can Only Imagine, all rolled into one.
There are divine call and genuine acceptance,
wife sharing, bargaining with God,
family dysfunction and banishment,
inhospitablity, attempted group sodomy,
incest, land grants, blessings, sheer trust,
joyful surprises, rock solid faith,
faith with fissures,
covenant and commitment.
It's a Trust Walk that wavers but gets there.
So heads up, hearts open,
courage and hope, onward
as we spiral around, and
faithfully and falteringly
zig zag our way to holiness.
Between here and there a
Messy Magnificence.
****
We welcome our newest participation
from the country of Czechia.
Thank you for the gift of union.
Let's continue to love and pray
for each other and all creation.
See you next week.
Holding you in
God's Dear Love,
John Frank
********************************************************************
This week we had an unusually large number
of folks new to "frankly speaking" join in.
Thank you for welcoming us and we are delighted
to welcome you!
A new posting goes online at the end of the week.
If you wish, you can bookmark "frankly speaking"
for easy access each week, or
automatically receive it each week by email.
The sign up is at the top right of the online page.
Thanks for your company!
Friday, April 13, 2018
UNO
Hi There !
So, do you have a favorite board or card game - say
Monopoly, Parcheesi, Chinese Checkers, Scrabble,
Bridge, even Poker?
For me it's Uno.
In just about all games you win
by racking up the most
"properties," marbles,
chips, points, cards.
In Uno you win by loosing,
getting rid of all your cards
as fast as you can.
Our spiritual lives are one grand,
exciting game of Uno.
The object is to give away
every bit and all
of who we are
and what we have,
right down to our core selves.
Now in the market economy
out here on the street
of everyday living
that would mean being a looser,
going bankrupt.
Paradoxically though,
in a much higher math and economy,
we are invited
to be winners,
to be enriched by investing
all our energies, time, talent,
giftedness, possessions and privileges -
our total selves -
in a life of
extravagant giving.
When we are "spent,"
when we have no cards left, it's
Uno.
We are
ONE
with
All.
"No Thing" seperates us from
pure Oneness with All That Is.
We are like hot air balloons,
meant for the sky
and getting there
by letting go of what
keeps us were we are.
The lighter the higher.
In a spiritual life of
Uno
we have "cards"
to give away for others:
- a sense of humor
- companionship
- money and possessions
- friendship
- patience
- parenting
- leadership
- team work
- forgiveness
- encouragement
- care for the marginalized
- patience
- environmental respect and care
- our self to our lover
- talents like crafting, music,
story telling, wisdom sharing,
painting, poetry
- mentoring
- skills like business acumen,
farming, technology,
investigative reporting, teaching,
archeological digs, forestry
- nurture of plants, children, the arts,
truth and justice
- creativity - arranging flowers,
managing finances,
organizing a kids' soccer league.
When all of who we are and have
is gone, is spent, we just
"are"
and "are" free enough
to expand in
All That Is,
to blend universally
( just for starters ).
While being our our unique selves,
we free flow into an
ever expanding oneness
with and in
All
God
Life and Love
in all creation,
in all beings and beyond without end
UNO
IN
OMNIA.
We realize we are one with babies,
the stars, enemies, strangers,
animals, ocean waves, a glass of wine,
beautiful art, mountain heights,
as well as the hurt, the left out,
the sick and pained,
with the abused environment,
with our lover,
with the Limitless Good we call God.
It helps ever so much to see all this
Oneness
as it evolved so freely and freeingly,
really and personally,
as we take a long, loving look at
Jesus, Mahatma Gandhi,
Buddha, Mother Teresa, Francis of Assisi,
Oscar Romero, Dorothy Day.
By not holding on to,
not clinging to,
any one thing
they became
ONE
with
All.
May it be so for us!!
May we get freed
and
dance with the universe!
It's "ONE"
( der)
FULL,
UNO
IN
OMNIA.
********************************
We are blessed with a bevy of new members
to our weekly sharing here.
Joining in this week are new friends
from the Philippines and Honduras.
Welcome and thank you for welcoming us!
Here's a prayer that we and all
Spring Free.
Holding one and all in
God's Dear Love,
John Frank
************************************************************************************
"frankly speaking" spirituality for the street
is posted toward the end of each week.
It is available online at
johnfrankshares.blogspot.com
and can be bookmarked
for easy access,
and also available automatically each week
by email (please see the top right of this posting).
**********************************************************************************
Thursday, April 5, 2018
SENSUAL
Hi There !
So, just how sensual are you anyway?
Say, on a scale of one to ten,
where do you show up sensually?
As a matter of fact, let's get more basic
and start from scratch.
Even better, let's start from itch.
What's the very first,
completely unfiltered, sense/image
that pops up when you hear the word "sensual"?
Come on now, let's be honest and candid here.
Does "sensual" pretty much register as "sexual,"
and/or some sort of sloppy to suspect self indulgence?
Put another way, could you be
unabashedly and enthusiastically sensual
in front of the children,
or your local librarian?
I hope so!
No, I haven' gone over the edge
and fallen into demented hedonism.
But too many of us have fallen away
from a vigorous,
jubilant, holy sensuality.
That's a pity !
We are way to much disconnected
from five marvelous channels
of engagement with the divine creativity:
sight, sound, taste, touch, smell.
Way back with the Greeks
the unity of creation
was split up into matter and spirit.
Often matter didn't matter,
or did matter as an obstacle,
if you were after "higher" things.
The Stoics insisted on the necessity
to escape matter, the sensual,
as much as possible in the pursuit of perfection.
Augustine was a wild, flagrant hedonist
until his conversion.
Then he did a 180 and
shut down on the sensual.
He even insisted that married couples
could only have intercourse
when they were trying to get pregnant.
Otherwise, sexual love was seriously sinful.
How non-sensual, nonsensical.
Origen, a Father of the Early Church,
castrated himself.
"So much did he flee from pleasure..."
( Jerome )
A lot of western spirituality
over the cnturies,
Roman Catholic and Reformist Protestant,
fearfully convulsed, decrying the sensual.
It talked centuries of Christians
out of holy, comfortable sensuality.
A sorry example close to home were the Puritans.
Contrary to their name
they made dirty pure sensuality.
In my early seminary days
we were taught to "Mortify the senses."
We were also taught Latin and in Latin
"mors, mortis" means "death."
So, death to the senses.
You were well on your way to holiness
if you slept on a hard bed, took cold showers,
didn't look at pretty girls, and all but mixed ashes
into your mashed potatoes.
We were pushed away from sensual delight.
Well, once in awhile there was a cold beer,
"But don't enjoy it too much!"
Then there was The Discipline,
a cat o' nine tails
to whip our bodies to painful numbness,
deadening the sense of feeling,
and our spirits as not so well.
It was downright nutty.
We were to practice "Modesty of the eyes."
Free translation, look down if you want to go up.
Holiness was a disembodied thing.
Now, all that in a seminary
supposed to be based in Jesus.
Well, check out Jesus.
He didn't back off from good food and drink.
No ashes in his mashed potatoes.
In fact, the Pharisees accused him of being
a glutton and drunkard. ( Matthew 11:19 )
He made sure folks had plenty to eat
with the multiplication
of the loaves and fishes. ( Matthew 14: 13-21 )
He made sure the daughter of Jairus
had something to eat
after he raised her from the dead.
( Mark 5:21-43 )
He partied at the wedding feast in Cana
and jumped right in, well,
with a healthy nudge
from his dear Jewish mother,
when they ran out of wine.
He changed barrels of water,
not into Welsch's Grape Juice,
but into the choicest vintage
of the celebration.( John 2:1-11 )
Jesus regularly connected
with people suffering sensual,
bodily impairments,
restoring sight, hearing,
bodily integrity,
as well as smell and touch
for those with leprosy
( Matthew 8:1-3, 12:10, 15:30 )
The beautiful goodness here is that God
created our material universe
and us as part of it
"...and saw that it was good."
( Genesis One )
We're given five sense
to see, taste, touch, hear and smell,
that goodness.
They connect us with God, each other
and all of creation.
What a sin to shut down
that kind of sacred sensuality.
It's basically a sick perversion
that fouls a free, exuberant flow
between us, God, others and all creation.
Sure, we could flip wrong and unreal,
becoming selfish hedonist.
In many ways, sadly way too many ways,
our current culture has done that,
flipping from the mistake of puritanism
to the mistake of the prurient.
Well, we are free
to be happily counter cultural
in response to both "mis-takes."
Way better is to live a free,
flat out, joyous
and sacred sensuality.
As I write early this spring morning
the sky is a vast quilt of ruffled blue gray
with a gentle, soft, luminous edge to the east.
( Ten Minutes Later )
Now that edge has warmed to a creamy red.
How wonderful to spend these moments
"sensing" magnificence in Creation's Studio.
There's so much God to sense:
- get down and dirty potting
some pansies for the front porch
- sink into a symphony
- let the morning shower
baptize us unto freshness
- hold a baby and feel sweet newness
- watch middle schoolers playing
a vigorous game of soccer
- chew every mouthful of food
twenty five times
just like Mom said,
tasting every texture and tone
of flavor anxious to delight our palate
- listen to the joyous babble
of spring runs out on the back forty
- let our ears catch the crack of the bat
at a baseball game
- hear the trees singing their heaven reach
- bask in the warmth of spring sunning
- slowly sip and savor every tannin, sweetness and oak
ready to share their euphoria with us
- feel the fibers and textures as we fold the laundry
- take in all the layers of aroma as supper is cooking
( especially the garlic in the marinara sauce !!)
- listen to the spring rains doing their sound dance.
Hey, don't let any anal retentive, churchy, scaredy cats
stifle or steal your soulful sensuality.
We started out questioning just how sensual you are.
Hope to heaven you are wonderfully,
wildly, soulfully sensual
no matter what the Stoics, Augustine, Origin
( in his neutured falsetto voice ),
the impure Puritans,
much "mis - taken" western spirituality,
and the prurient hedonism of our culture
say is the matter with matter.
We have it on the best of authority
that matter matters beautifully, divinely -
that body and all creation " ...is good."
( Genesis One )
God has endless ways to make love to us.
Five of them are Spirit sensitive senses.
So, let's slow down to be enfolded
into the bliss of divine intimacy,
free opened in the
Sacred Sensual.
Hope Spring is doing just that for you.
If you reside in a different atmosphere
than I do here in the mid-Atlantic USA,
may your special atmosphere mean a season
that enlivens with its unique goodness.
Most of us have never met face to face,
yet we have this marvelous soul union each week.
Thanks for the gift of you in union.
A joyous welcome to new folks
joining in with us here
from Kenya,Pakistan
Saudi Arabia, and Tunisia.
Holding all in
God's Dear Love,
John Frank
*********************************************************************************
For those new to our sharing here,
"frankly speaking"
spirituality for the street,
is posted toward the end of the week.
It is available online at
johnfrankshares.blogspot.com
and also automatically each week by email
if you chose that delivery.
( please see the top right of this posting
to subscribe to the email option.
********************************************************************************
Sunday, April 1, 2018
DANCE ON IT
THE STONE
The Myrrh Bearers came
( with what fear and trembling? )
trudging alone in darkness
worrying about
the stone.
Everybody worries
about the stone,
that great impediment
between us
and what we seek,
the great burden
we carry
like Sisyphus
laboring
up and down the hill.
The sun rose.
The women looked up.
The stone,
which was very large,
had been removed.
No wonder they ran
to tell Cephas.
Someone should tell Sisyphus:
' Put it down, man,
and dance on it.'
Bonnie B. Thurston
****
How wonderful that we can put it down and dance on it
Easter Blessing and Love to You All,
John Frank
(The Stone, From Darkness to Eastering, Bonnie B. Thurston, Wild Goose Publications, 2017)