Dear All of Us,
Right now, right here, it is a perfect Fall day -
warmly cool, clear skyed bright, harvested fields
looking like they all just got a buzz cut,
front stoops autumn garbed, stalks, straw and all,
trees a kaleidoscope of richness deep,
an apple picking day (and pie when you get home),
pumpkins smiling orange happiness everywhere.
What a wonderful day for us to be in touch.
And staying in touch is well worth a touch of Soul Study just now.
You know, there are ever so many ways to stay in touch.
Most all of us have concentric circles of connections,
ways and means of staying in touch.
.
Some are central, some are close, some not so close,
some are occasional, some frequent, some sporadic,
some are casual, some intense,
some mean a Christmas card,
some are soul to soul sacred,
some closer than first time lovers in the Spring of Their Joy
and seasoned seniors in the Autumn of their Bounty.
Being in touch, being connected, are central to our spiritual living.
They are channels right to God,
and of God right to us.
All creation springs from God.
Staying in touch with creation connects us to the Source and Center of All.
You want to touch God, stay in touch with God's creation.
You want God to touch you, God does it through God's creation.
Everyone and everything is so Godly, has such staying power through touch.
As I write this the sun is dusking westward,
spacious, peaceful, touching soul to rapture.
I am savoring delightful crudites cum crackers,
and a happy, hearty cabernet sauvignon -
Creator's earth fruits with an intoxicating touch of The Love Who Is God.
The aroma of a homemade chicken stew and oatmeal bread for dinner
wafts upstairs here to this cell and study.
It's another telling touch of God's creative largess and love.
Earlier today Michael and I shared.
He's a scientist.
I'm a, well, a bit of a space cadet.
We both stay in touch with God in different ways.
A bit ago I texted with a Soul Son.
He's in the agony of birthing adult love.
Being in touch with Michael and Soul Son means being In Touch with God.
We presence God to each other in quite different ways,
but we do it by staying in touch.
All touch is divine.
We awake to this with time and delight.
There are moments when the touch,
the connection with God,
comes in the quiet of contemplative prayer,
mystically merging in prayer with Love Itself,
and certainly in shared worship and Communion.
Touch with God happens in the immediacy of our right nows.
A baby in the supermarket smiles at us,
scripture reveals Reality,
working shoulder to shoulder with the needful,
letting ourselves be held by our lover,
tutoring inner city kids on Saturdays,
a walk in the woods,
penning a poem,
embracing a new friendship.
With math, microscope, test-tube, word, brush,
be it immediate and close,
be it occasional and rare,
we are touched and we touch.
Whatever the degree of connection,
we slow down, simplify, sensitize, as we
STAY IN TOUCH,
so wondrously in a living connection.
Saying in touch with the goodness of our Creator
could be watching a Ken Burns documentary,
foregoing a an expensive vacation
so an impoverished Syrian family
may use those funds to stay alive,
spending a weekend in retreat at a Trappist monastery
in contemplative quite,
sharing an hour with a lonely old person,
being deeply in touch with Vermeer's "The Milkmaid."
A fine prompt and guide here is to make use of the tutorial
Richard Rohr offers in his "Practice: Eating One Raisin: Mindful Eating".
(Daily email, October 19,2019). Go to The Center for Action and Contemplation.
If you aren't into raisins, substitute any goodness you choose
and modify.
Thank you for the blessing that it is for us to
STAY IN TOUCH,
for our connection, our Soul Share here
each week.
Holding One and All Close In,
Ever so truly in
The Love Who Is God,
John Frank
*****
It's a blessing to connect
with new folks and then
"Stay In Touch"
each week here at
"frankly speaking"
spirituality for the street.
It is posted online each
Thursday evening,
east coast USA time,
and is also available weekly
on Fridays by automatic email
(sign up top right above).
*****
See you nest week!!!
______________________________________________________________________
so wondrously in a living connection.
Saying in touch with the goodness of our Creator
could be watching a Ken Burns documentary,
foregoing a an expensive vacation
so an impoverished Syrian family
may use those funds to stay alive,
spending a weekend in retreat at a Trappist monastery
in contemplative quite,
sharing an hour with a lonely old person,
being deeply in touch with Vermeer's "The Milkmaid."
A fine prompt and guide here is to make use of the tutorial
Richard Rohr offers in his "Practice: Eating One Raisin: Mindful Eating".
(Daily email, October 19,2019). Go to The Center for Action and Contemplation.
If you aren't into raisins, substitute any goodness you choose
and modify.
Thank you for the blessing that it is for us to
STAY IN TOUCH,
for our connection, our Soul Share here
each week.
Holding One and All Close In,
Ever so truly in
The Love Who Is God,
John Frank
*****
It's a blessing to connect
with new folks and then
"Stay In Touch"
each week here at
"frankly speaking"
spirituality for the street.
It is posted online each
Thursday evening,
east coast USA time,
and is also available weekly
on Fridays by automatic email
(sign up top right above).
*****
See you nest week!!!
______________________________________________________________________
