So, how are you with numbers?
Can you do on the spot,
spot on computation
in the produce section of the supermarket -
four avocados for $5.00, but you only want two?
Answer, $2.50, but I had to ask for help!!
That's because, even before
politically correct language
( what kind of correct? ) ,
I have always been " numerically challenged, "
( is that correct enough?).
Checking accounts, taxes, interest rates,
surely Comcast offers and contracts,
and all their numerical cousins
really do "challenge,"
really do confuse the liv'n heck out of me.
Not so value, though.
Happily, I can spot value on the spot.
That's a blessing because our spiritual life
out here on the street of everyday living
depends so critically on
getting evaluations right,
and that right away.
A big help here is Jesus.
He names and nails value
quicker than the best on Wall Street.
Check out his evaluations
in Matthew 13:31-33, 44-52.
It's parables on steroids for sure,
but all six of them underscore
the same bedrock value:
ALL FOR NOTHING.
Jesus applies this value to getting
to a good place in life,
to getting located for value living.
He calls it The Kingdom of Heaven.
It's for start up right here, right now,
not just when we die.
It's a transition, a transaction if you will,
to a new way of life.
It's being in a new place and space in life,
a truly new realm.
You could compare it
to moving from the worst inner city
to The Hamptons, and that in spades.
Scattered all across the New Testament
are beautiful references to
the grandeur of this Kingdom Living. .
When all moved in, it means:
- pervasive peace
- satisfaction unlimited
- profound joy
- infinite love
- cosmic harmony
- everything the deepest parts
of our down deep center self longs for -
Oneness
and that endlessly.
It's value beyond computation.
All we have to do is remember
ALL FOR NOTHING.
It's as simple as this.
If my hands overflow with pennies,
I can't accept a check for ten thousand dollars.
Jesus shares that letting go
of what we are and have
makes room for everything.
God wants to give us All.
All we have to do is let go
of the little we have.
It's free and full,
ALL FOR NOTHING.
Naked we will be gloriously clothed.
Penniless, we will be enriched beyond count.
In these Gospel passages from Matthew,
typical of the Jewish tradition of midrash,
there are all sorts of levels,
angles, tones of meaning about the Kingdom:;
- it is a treasure
- it seems insignificant at first,
but then grows to largeness
- it starts one way and differentiates
as it matures to magnificence
- it has to be discovered
- it means deliberate, significant selection.
Here we focus on the surrender of the little
so as to be to be gifted
with a lot more than a lot.
ALL FOR NOTHING.
Jesus tells of
- a mustard seed
: - yeast
- hidden treasure
- a pearl
- a catch of fish
- the mustard seed has to let go
of being a little seed to become
a great big tree
- the yeast has to let go of being
a collection of one celled organisms
mixed into flour to become
a big, delicious loaf of bread
- an investor has to let go of
low yield assets to realize
a high yield one, a treasure
hidden in the field of finance
- a pearl merchant has to let go,
has to cash in, all he has to buy
that rare find of greatest value
- the fisherman has to let go of
the low grade part of the catch
to market the high grade yield
part of the catch.
There is a necessary impoverishment
to be enriched.
Jesus straightforwardly tells us
we need to let go to get.
.Drawing from these parables
and other spirit indicators
throughout scripture,
it looks like this:
- to let go of our self centeredness
so as to be spiraled
into a universal inclusivity
- to let go grasping greediness,
to let go of being possessed
by our possessions,
so as to be gifted with practical sufficiency
in a field of psychic freedom
- to let go of lust and be in love
- to let go the prison of narrow mindedness
for the freedom and spaciousness
of endless exploration and discovery
- for old people like me, to embrace
diminishment into Fullness
- to let go
- frantic hurry
- destructive distractions
- being entertained to death
- being drowned in surround sound noise
- a mind full of jumping monkeys
- to let go such for
- soulful steadiness
- tranquility
- spirit enrichment
- peace
- Divine Union.
No matter how old we are,
we all must lay down our security blankets
to be freed up for hands on,
full bore kingdom living.
So, what's what with this kingdom life,
what is it not,
what is it in lived experience?
What's the little that has to go
to get the lot of it all,
of it ALL?
Galatians 5:16 -6:6 helps us parse out
the works of the flesh,
of self centered living,
that have to go
so we can get
the fruits of the spirit,
free, creative, inspirited gifts
that animate Kingdom living.
Using the Meditation Markers that follow,
let's give slow, soulful reflection
over the next week or so
to Galatians 5:19 through 6:6.
Using The Message translation,
let's quiet our mind,
open our center self,
take a deep breath of body,
and even more so of soul self,
and hear The Spirit speak,
Spirit to spirit.
To mix the metaphor,
see what The Spirit says to our spirits.
What has to go so All can come?
Let's be very honest, clear and specific.
What/Who/How are the works of the flesh
as they are current with me?
What/Who/How are the fruits of the Spirit
as they are current with me
AND
need to be so?
It would be best to take one section
of Galatians 5:19 through 6:6
each day of the week and focus on that.
As always, it is so good to be together here each week.
Every blessing and goodness!
In God's Dear Love,
John Frank
*****
MEDITATION MARKERS
Galatians 5:19-26;
Galatians 6:1-6 MSG
Galatians 6:1-6 MSG
19
It is obvious what kind of life develops
out of trying to get your own way
all the time:
repetitive, loveless, cheap sex;
a stinking accumulation of
mental and emotional garbage;
frenzied and joyless grabs for happiness;
20 trinket gods; magic-show religion;
paranoid loneliness; cutthroat competition;
all-consuming-yet-never-satisfied wants;
a brutal temper; an impotence to love
or be loved;
divided homes and divided lives;
small-minded and lopsided pursuits;
21 the vicious habit of
out of trying to get your own way
all the time:
repetitive, loveless, cheap sex;
a stinking accumulation of
mental and emotional garbage;
frenzied and joyless grabs for happiness;
20 trinket gods; magic-show religion;
paranoid loneliness; cutthroat competition;
all-consuming-yet-never-satisfied wants;
a brutal temper; an impotence to love
or be loved;
divided homes and divided lives;
small-minded and lopsided pursuits;
21 the vicious habit of
depersonalizing everyone into a rival;
uncontrolled and uncontrollable addictions;
ugly parodies of community.
I could go on.
This isn't the first time
I have warned you, you know.
If you use your freedom this way,
you will not inherit God's kingdom.
22 But what happens when
we live God's way?
He brings gifts into our lives,
much the same way
that fruit appears in an orchard -
things like
affection for others,
exuberance about life,
serenity.
We develop a willingness to stick with things,
a sense of compassion in the heart,
and a conviction that a basic holiness
permeates things and people.
We find ourselves involved in loyal commitments,
23 not needing to force our way in life,
able to marshal and direct our energies wisely.
Legalism is helpless in bringing this about;
it only gets in the way.
24 Among those who belong to Christ,
everything connected with getting our own way and
mindlessly responding to what everyone else
calls necessities is killed off for good - crucified.
25 Since this is the kind of life we have chosen,
the life of the Spirit, let us make sure that
we do not just hold it as an idea in our heads
or a sentiment in our hearts,
but work out its implications in every
detail of our lives.
26 That means we will not compare ourselves
with each other as if one of us
were better and another worse.
We have far more interesting things
to do with our lives.
Each of us is an original.
1
Live creatively, friends.
If someone falls into sin,
forgivingly restore him,
saving your critical comments for yourself.
You might be needing forgiveness
before the day's out.
2 Stoop down and reach out
to those who are oppressed.
Share their burdens,
and so complete Christ's law.
3 If you think you are too good for that,
you are badly deceived.
4 Make a careful exploration of who you are
and the work you have been given,
and then sink yourself into that.
Don't be impressed with yourself.
Don't compare yourself with others.
5 Each of you must take responsibility
for doing the creative best you can
with your own life.
6 Be very sure now, y
you who have been trained
to a self-sufficient maturity,
that you enter into a generous common life
with those who have trained you,
sharing all the good things
that you have and experience.
Yes, it's
Let go of the little,
be gifted with lots and lots of life,
Kingdom Living.
ALL FOR NOTHING
*****
Many thanks to all who are letting
family, friends, associates know about our
weekly sharing together here at
"frankly speaking."
For those new, "frankly speaking"
- Is posted each Friday at
johnfrankshares.blogspot.com
and can be bookmarked
for ready access
- Is available each Saturday
by automatic email delivery -
Sign Up is found at the top right
of the online offering
- Past postings are available at
Blog Archive -
bottom right of the online offering.
WELCOME !
*****************************************************************************
If someone falls into sin,
forgivingly restore him,
saving your critical comments for yourself.
You might be needing forgiveness
before the day's out.
2 Stoop down and reach out
to those who are oppressed.
Share their burdens,
and so complete Christ's law.
3 If you think you are too good for that,
you are badly deceived.
4 Make a careful exploration of who you are
and the work you have been given,
and then sink yourself into that.
Don't be impressed with yourself.
Don't compare yourself with others.
5 Each of you must take responsibility
for doing the creative best you can
with your own life.
6 Be very sure now, y
you who have been trained
to a self-sufficient maturity,
that you enter into a generous common life
with those who have trained you,
sharing all the good things
that you have and experience.
Yes, it's
Let go of the little,
be gifted with lots and lots of life,
Kingdom Living.
ALL FOR NOTHING
*****
Many thanks to all who are letting
family, friends, associates know about our
weekly sharing together here at
"frankly speaking."
For those new, "frankly speaking"
- Is posted each Friday at
johnfrankshares.blogspot.com
and can be bookmarked
for ready access
- Is available each Saturday
by automatic email delivery -
Sign Up is found at the top right
of the online offering
- Past postings are available at
Blog Archive -
bottom right of the online offering.
WELCOME !
*****************************************************************************
.