Friday, September 28, 2018
CONTEXT III
THIS IS THE THIRD
IN A FOUR PART SERIES
ON
CONTEXT CONDITIONS.
IT WOULD BE OPTIMAL
TO HAVE READ BOTH
CONTEXT I
AND
CONTEXT II
IN PREPARATION FOR
THIS THIRD OFFERING.
JUST GO TO
BLOG ARCHIVE
TO THE RIGHT
OR
SCROLL DOWN HERE.
THANKS
*****
Hi There,
So, how do you
dance a ballet
in a battle field?
In a crazy way that's
the question before us.
How live our spiritual lives
in the current context
of conflict, hostility, turmoil
and various forms of violence?
Given the
times and troubles,
to say nothing of
our basic human
nature and need
for community,
we cannot go it alone.
Spiritual community -
com (L) = "with "
unus (L) = "one"
= community
is essential.
It is not as a way to hide,
but as a way to live
unity,
to put into practice
the foundational bedrock
that Jesus offers.
* "Do unto others
as you would
have them
do unto you."
and
* "Love your neighbor
as yourself."
* "What you do to others
you do to me."
Putting into practice here
means "practical."
Right in our spiritual community
we determine to live out
that foundational bedrock.
We do that in all the
sweaty to sublime instances
of everyday life.
We support, we confess,
we forgive, we share,
we listen, we help,
we encourage, we search,
we pray and worship.
We take care of each other's kids
and of the elderly among us.
We are patient with
the slow and weak.
In one way or many, we
"build each other's barns."
We pay the rent
when one of us is broke.
We really listen
when a needy one just
talks and talks and talks.
We get around and behind
our young people
as they try to find
their adult footing.
We suffer with
those among us caught in
alcoholism/drug addiction,
loss or grief.
We embrace those of
a different sexual or
political orientations.
In other words,
we get personal
and practical.
In still other words,
what we do within
our spiritual community
we do for others beyond it.
We reach out individually
and as a community to those in
our wider community.
We participate in,
or start,
all sorts of community
services and projects.
We welcome and include
the shut outs of our neighborhood,
we have them over for dinner and
to our community celebrations,
we help them figure the system,
we find common ground
with the "other,"
people with "other"
politics, life styles, religions,
ethnic/racial backgrounds,
sexual orientations, incomes.
We work with "others"
(who rally aren't )
to have optimal schools,
libraries, social services,
health care, environmental
responsibility, protection
and support for
the marginalized,
endowment for the arts,
recreational facilities,
in our communities.
Looking to the
wider community,
we do what we can
to positively effect
the national and
international situation
and the makers
and shakers there.
But we don't wait for them
to catch up with us.
We vote with
all the wisdom
we can grow into.
We communicate regularly,
clearly, in a civil manner
with those elected leaders.
We support social justice
organizations and efforts.
We are selective as we invest
in the corporate/financial sector.
We communicate
with the leaders there as
we work for economic
balance and justice.
We adjust our purchases
to our consciences and call.
We let the media moguls
hear our regular reminder
to always reference
The Common Good,
making it a priority
over popularity and profit.
"We think globally,
but act locally."
To say it again,
we live out
our commitments
to justice and care in the
"right here, right now"
of our everyday lives.
We blend and bond
with others
( who really aren't)
in our for real,
sweaty to sublime
spiritual community.
As individuals
and as a community
we connect, care and serve
in our immediate area
and as far out
as humanly possible.
Wherever, however, whenever,
we recognize the "other" as us.
We do unto them as
we sure hope they will to us
and everyone else.
We love them as ourselves
because they are!!
Like I did with the
hellishly hot attic bedroom
of my long ago youth,
we recognize that
CONTEXT
CONDITIONS,
but we won't curl up
in the corner
and settle for a negative one.
That goes for the
hellishly dangerous context
in our country and in
too much of the world
these perilous days that are
more like dark, stormy nights.
See "The Atlantic,"
October '18 issue for a series
of article on our cultural,
governmental distress).
We are effected.
We will effect.
As I did with that
hellishly hot attic bedroom,
we do all we can to improve the context.
I did it with my bedroom so as to sleep.
We do it with our world so as to live.
After all and always, we are
One.
One in community, we
"Do unto others as we
would have them
do unto us"
because "other" is us
in another way.
We
" Love our neighbors
as ourselves"
because they are we,
we are they.
We realize that
whatever we do
to others we
do to God.
God is One and so are we!!
Love God, neighbor, self .
It makes for a
" ONE"- DER-FULL
RECONDITIONED CONTEXT
AND
COMMUNITY.
NEXT WEEK:
WE COMPLETE
THIS CONSIDERATION
OF HOW
CONTEXT CONDITIONS.
WE WILL FURTHER DETAIL
OUR CURRENT
DISTRESSED CONTEXT.
WE WILL EXPLORE
WAYS FORWARD
THROUGH A SERIES OF
REFLECTIONS PROMPTS.
It is a real goodness to be together
in our little community
of sharing and support
weekly here at
"frankly speaking."
Thanks!!
Holding us all in
God's Dear Love,
John Frank
*****
For those new to us,
"frankly speaking"
- is posted each Friday online at
johnfrankshares.blogspot.com
and can be bookmarked
for ready access
- is automatically delivered by email
each Saturday - Sign Up is at
the top of the online version.
- past postings are available at
Blog Archive, right column here.
Please do give a bit
of time and attention to
* "What's Going On Here?"
and
"Consider Your Source."
( Right column)
Hopefully they we give a sense
of our soul here.
THANKS!
*************************************************************************