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

********************************************************************

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