UBUNTU

Hi There !

So, summer is just about

to cross the state line.

Let's party !!

How about a major league,

blow out barbecue on Memorial Day?



Actually, I've already rented

a few lakeside fields

at the county park.

Orders are in for lots and lots of

really serious, awesome

food and drink.

Got a band, softball, horse shoes,

swimming, row boats, lounge chairs,

umbrellas, picnic tables,

all lined up.



We really need to get

kith 'n kin together

for a first class,

major feast,

a Family Feast.

You know, like one of those huge,

midwestern family reunions

they have every five or so years.

Everyone is in,

in from close up and in from far out,

be that geography, religion, politics,

income, and any other distance,

difference, or degree of separation.

Gotta reconnect, renew, refresh

tie in tight those family ties.

It'll take some stretch for sure,

but after all we really are family.

                UBUNTU !!

That's a lot more than the name for an

open source software operating system

from our computer to The Cloud and

to all our internet connected things.


                  UBUNTU !!

It is us connected fundamentally,

foundationally, essentially.

It is our human family's spiritual,

source software operating system.

The folks out in Silicon Valley

actually borrowed the term from

the beautifully connected people

of southern Africa.

How 'bout that?

                  UBUNTU !!

Quite literally and quite really means

                
    " I AM BECAUSE WE ARE !"


Alone, I'm not.

Together we are.

Family.

Blood family.

World Family.

So, please stick with me, stay tuned.

Here's the list so far

of those invited to our

Memorial Day reaffirmation of our


         WORLD FAMILY
            

 -Donald Trump

-Pope Francis

-Queen Elizabeth

-Joe Biden

-Jerry Falwell, Jr

- Mark and Prisilla Chan Zuckenberg

-An undocumented family from Arizona

 ( don't want to name them )

-Steve Bannon

- Bob and Mary Zimmer - he works at the

  U S Steel plant in Lorain, Ohio

- Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi -

   he is a key ISIS leader

- Rob Bell 

-"Judy" - she is  twenty two year old

   opioid addict from

   the hills of West Virginia

- Johnny - he is a frightened,

   fifteen year old gay teen

   from a small town in Mississippi,

   very much in the closet

-Sissy - she is a single, black mom

  working at a distillery in Bardstown, Ky

-A New York City couple

  ( they requested not to be named ),

  finance people, 1% -ers

-and of course all of us from

 "frankly speaking" - 

  we come from forty seven

 different nations at this point.



What a family we humans are

at heart, and that's our reference -

the heart of the matter!!


I mean, how cool,

how heart warming

it will be.

Imagine Queen Elizabeth,

a bit had from the wedding,

and Donald Trump,

freed from twittering

for the day,

munching away on

Grade A Angus burgers

( no McDonalds allowed )

and swapping tales

about the grandkids.



What bonding as young Johnny and Judy,

go row boating,

sharing their terrors,

being accepted and affirmed,

supported in their quests for freedom.

                 
                  UBUNTU !!

       "I AM BECAUSE WE ARE !"


                 Family Firm.



Steve Bannon and Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi

teamed up to play Jerry Falwell and Rob Bell

in a vigorous game of horse shoes

and finding out they all four

like sports and actually enjoy

 each others' company.

Joe Biden couching both teams.



Alone is unnatural.

Together is human nature.



Pope Francis circulating

from group to group,

good father that he is,

and having the wealthy family

from NYC and the

undocumented family

from Arizona, as well as

Sissy from Kentucky,

join at his picnic table

for some great barbecue.


            UBUNTU !!

 Alone is lethal.

Together is dynamic.



The Zuckenbergers walking around

"Liking" everyone,

and folks happy to "Like" them.



Yes, our spiritual life is life

"All in the Family,"

in the very best sense of the term.

"We are because WE ARE."




See you on the 31st.

Together we'll serve up and savor

generous portions of family,

a  Feast of Family,

our human family.


            UBUNTU !!


Thank all of you for dealing me in.

             Gratefully

     "I am because we are."

           John Frank

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

If you wish, please enjoy the

Meditation Markers that follow

as you pray over

               UBUNTU !!


" I AM BECAUSE WE ARE."

and what that means for your

spiritual life out here

on the street of every day living.

                    *****



"frankly speaking"

     - is posted toward the end of the week.

      - online access:

        johnfrankshares.blogspot.com

        and can be book marked

        for easy reach

      - automatic email available -

        sign up top right of the online version.

      - past posts available from

        Blog Archive,

        bottom right of online version.

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



               MEDITATION MARKERS





The Buddhists have

a powerful way of expressing

         
          UBUNTU !!


May every creature abound
in well being and peace.

May every living being,
weak or strong,
the long and the small,
the short and the medium-sized,
the mean and the great.

May every living being,
seen or unseen,
those dwelling far off,
those living near by,
those already born,
those waiting to be born,

May all attain inward peace.

Let no one deceive another.
Let no one despise another
in any situation.

Let no one from antipathy
or hatred,
wish evil to anyone at all.

Just as a mother,
with her own life,
protects her only child from hurt,
so within yourself foster
a limitless concern
for every living creature.

Display a heart of boundless love
for all of the world
in all its height and depth
and broad extent.

Love unrestrained,
without hate
or enmity.

Then as you stand
or walk, sit or lie,
until overcome by drowsiness,
devote your mind entirely to this:
It is known as living
the life divine.

(As quoted in the Unitarian
 Universalist Hymnal, #597)


How can the various qualities
named here be lived out
in my real, daily life?
Detail as many as you can, eg.
how can I
 "Display a heart of boundless love..."?


                 ****



"I give you a new commandment,
 that you love one another.
 Just as I have loved you,
 you should love
 one another."
                             Jesus

                         John 13:34

What kind of love does Jesus
 have for us?
 Be specific.

 What does loving others like that
 look like in my world and day,
 my attitudes and actions?
  Be specific.

                   *****



"For as in one body
we have many members,
and not all the members
have the same function,
so we, who are many,
are one body in Christ,
and individually we are
members one of another."

              Romans 12: 4-5


What are some of my "functions"
 in the Body of Christ?
How am I with experiencing
unity in diversity?
Specifically and really.


 "...we ...are one body in Christ."
How do I embody Christ,
individually and
at the same time corporately?
Specifically and really.


              *****


HOW TO RESPECT OTHER RELIGIONS


EDUCATE YOURSELF

BE AMAZED-OR EVEN
CONVERTED- INTO
A BETTER VERSION OF YOURSELF

BE PATIENT-DON"T FORM
OPINIONS TOO SOON

BUILD RELATIONSHIPS

KEEP YOUR SENSE OF HUMOR HANDY

ASK QUESTIONS - LISTEN

SAY " I DON'T UNDERSTAND YET"

EXPERIENCE HOW OTHERS WORSHIP

HONOR CONVICTIONS- DON'T TRY
TO REMAKE PEOPLE IN YOUR OWN IMAGE

EAT TOGETHER, PLAY TOGETHER,
AND HOLD EACH OTHER'S BABIES

EMBRACE MYSTERY

DO UNTO OTHERS AS YOU WOULD HAVE THEM DO UNTO YOU

                                                  SALT*
                                                  saltproject .org



"Be a lamp,
 a lifeboat,
 a ladder.
 Help someone's soul heal.
 Walk out of your house
  like a sheperd."
                            Rumi


Please take each metaphor
that Rumi uses.
How can I translate the metaphor
into attitude and action?
 

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