Friday, November 23, 2018
JUST RIGHT
Hi There !
So, when things turn out
JUST RIGHT
it's a right turn for sure.
Things like:
- two perfectly connecting flights
and you get to Chicago
ahead of schedule
- that first date that means for sure
there's plenty more to come
- your signature souffle
that was perfect at
last night's dinner party
- securing a spectacular contract
for your firm
- scripting a poem that
speaks your soul
- a winning slam dunk
in the last two seconds of
the championship final
- restoring that
1932 Ford Coupe to a "T"
So good when things are
JUST RIGHT
As we widen our focus,
we see the same is true
in our spiritual lives
out here on the street
of everyday living -
our individual part
and the universal whole
we share with all.
This, by the important way,
bares absolutely no resemblance
to any sort of puritanical or
perfectionistic arrogance
in our spiritual living.
They are not at all right.
Rather, and ever so better,
is our oneness in
God's Work
of
getting things
JUST RIGHT.
Pardon my Latin, but
"just" and "right"
are identical twins.
"Just"
from the Latin
"Justus'
means
"Right,"
as in getting things
JUST RIGHT.
Our spiritual lives are
a continuance
in this time and place of
God's
"Justus"
the work of getting things
JUST RIGHT
- if "God" is not your
accustomed appellation,
please insert
Existence, Reality,, Being,
Cosmic Energy Field,
or your own particular word for
The Whole Enchilada -
Justice
.rights wrong
rights creation.
*********
JUSTICE RIGHTS WRONG
Some times things are not at all right.
Rather, they are dead wrong,
as dead wrong as the
Pittsburgh Synagogue Slaughter
as dead wrong as the
economic/social imbalance of
99% to 1%
or the rape of Mother Earth.
Evil is energy gone wrong -
people playing God,
social systems structured
to the advantage of a selfish few
and the degradation
of painfully so many,
the abuse of peoples and places.
I don't have the time
nor competence
to deal fully with
the problem of evil.
But God does
and we are invited
to join in,
to right the wrong
in the here and now,
to be part of the ongoing
redemptive love
and work of God.
In and with him
we return good for evil.
Thus, evil is replaced
with good
one moment,
one person,
one place,
one setting
at a time.
"Do not repay evil with evil...
do not be overcome by evil,
but overcome evil with good."
( Romans 12:17 and 21)
In the particulars and practicalities
of our living we are part of
God's redemptive love
"Righting Wrong"
until one day things are
JUST RIGHT
Some Examples:
- not to break up or back off
when someone close is being
wackie or weird -
it's called long suffering and
requires high octane love
- to have lunch with the local
and consistently avoided nerd
at work or school
- to pay day laborers $20 an hour
- to get out of the way
and let the tailgater go
- to calmly and clearly challenge
a "play it safe" pastor
who just won't address
social justice issues in sermons
- to tip big time an inattentive waiter
- to be proactive in welcoming
minority folk when they arrive
in the area (or religious community )
Yes, "overcome evil with good"
until things are
JUST RIGHT.
JUSTICE RIGHTS CREATION
So far, so good.
And it doesn't stop there or ever.
It just gets exponentially better.
Our moniker for it is
Creation
and we're all invited to the party.
We are asked to help get it
JUST RIGHT.
To put it in the vernacular,
God has ants in his pants
and just can't keep
goodness to himself.
God thrills to pour out
his enthusiastic energy
in ever new, imaginative,
spectacular creations.
Sticking with the vernacular,
God is like a gourmet chef
serving up one new excellence
after plenty before
God is like a toy maker
bursting forth with
fascination upon fascination
God is just getting started.
He's on a roll
and he wants us in on
the exuberance spiraling out
in never to end beauty.
Here's a bit of
a sampler of possibilities
as we co-create with God,
righting creation:
- whatever our orientation,
socializing, mixing it up
with folks of other orientations
- retired folks refusing
to "park" it in,
rather
re-"tire"-ing
with a whole new set
of wheels
and off they go
in new directions of
care and creativity
like never before -
*writing poetry,
*doing watercolors,
*building houses
for the homeless,
*mentoring teens
in dangerous drift,
* hosting groups for
inter- generational sharing
- simplify by shopping
in thrift stores and thus
recycling rather than land fill
everything from clothing to a
vintage Howdy Doody cap
( a cap like that would
get things going
next time on the links!!)
- being practically and
locally active in politics
so that it gets a chance to be
what it's meant to be -
high minded, warm hearted
principles put into practice
- moving away from the
trivia and falseness of so much
social media and instead
calling people by phone,
writing them letters,
sending them pictures of the kids
- selecting a career tract
that lifts and frees you
and lots of others
- taking a gap year or two
to serve in groups like Sojourners,
Jesuit Volunteer Corps, L'Arche
- starting a spirituality group
in the spirit of John Wesley's
"Ecclesiolae in Ecclesia"
( a little church within the church)
for deeper community and
substantive soul share
-securing farm and forest land preservation.
Between you, justice focused colleagues
and The Holy Spirit, The Spirit of Truth,
you are sure to get creation wonderfully
JUST RIGHT
Thanks to God and so many of you.
Our little, weekly circle of sharing
here at "frankly speaking"
continues to widen.
Let's daily hold each in God's Love.
May our love, prayers,
and hopefully this blog,
support us all in vigorously living
our spiritual lives out here on
the street of everyday living,
in whatever country/context it runs
through.
Every goodness and blessing.
Holding you and yours
In God's Dear Love,
John Frank
*****
We happily welcome those new
to our weekly sharing here.
Thank you for your company.
To get a sense of
what we are about here,
please do spend a few minutes
and lots of self with
- What's Going On Here?
and
- Consider Your Source.
(right column online)
*****
"frankly speaking"
spirituality for the street
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johnfrankshares.blogspot.com
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Thank You
*****
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