ATTENTION

Hi There !

"Bless me, Father, for I have sinned.

It's been a week since my last confession.

These are my sins.

I had impure thoughts many times every day."



That was a typical lead for the "soul script"

of teenage boys when I was a young priest

hearing their confessions.

Their "impure thoughts"

were sexual images and fantasies

sprung from pubescent "hormonal upheaval."



Well, this old confessor needs to confess

that I too am plagued with

 "impure thoughts many times every day."



Do I have your attention???

You see, that's my problem:

       ATTENTION!!


My attention to God is blurred to blindness

at times by an impure haze over my spirit.

Its pollutants are pride, selfishness, fear,

laziness, and a batch of

not a bit likeable "impurities."



It's a terrible play in too many acts:

* Feigning attention while

  not a bit interested in a person

* Smiling as a defense rather than

   as a soul stretch

* Saying the right thing

   for a totally wrong reason

* At worship wondering

   about other things

   rather than being in wonder

* Listening to music

   while mentally planning

   tomorrow's schedule

* Reading the Bible

  to anchor my points

  rather than be treated

  to refreshing  revelation

* Pretending to fully listen

to another while  busy

lining up my responses.


These "impurities" and

their smudged cousins

           cause a

disconnect between my
        
         Soul Self

           and the

God of Right Here,

        Right Now.



That God of Right Here, Right Now

is so purely present in prayer, people,

sacred writings, service, work, nature,

the arts, science, learning -

in everyone and everywhere I go.

The trouble is I'm not!



My"impurities" haze over

real attention to the

God of Right Here, Right Now.

Paradoxically my "impurities"

became quite clear to me the other day.

I was doing spiritual direction.

There is a lot of God,

God Right Here, Right Now,

in that wonderful man.

I missed most of it it because

I was trying to score some points,

posturing as a wise sage and saintly soul.

Inattentive and impure

in the presence of

such pure Godness

right there, right then!!




Well, that's about it

for this edition of

"True Confessions."



Here's the hope:

* To purely,

to really give attention

to "God Present"

wherever, however

the pure  presence.

* To give "soul attention"

     (i.e. center self )

to people and place,

to God Right Here, Right Now

so present there

* to give myself

a reality check

every morning,

noon, and night -

an examen -

"How purely am I present?"

* To regularly thank God

for waiting til I get there!!




Here it is

Scripture Straight:

THE POLLUTION:

      " There are those who are pure

         in their own eyes and yet

         are not cleansed of their own filth."

                   Proverbs 30:12


THE PURITY:

       " Blessed are the pure in heart,

         for they shall see God."

                    Matthew 5:8


Hey, let's

cleans the lens!!

Holding you all in

God's Dear Love,

God Right Here, Right Now,

         John Frank

            *****



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