PARTIAL

Dear All Of Us,

A personal lesson on the partial.

Hope it will help illustrate how

             PARTIAL
      all good things are,

       AND THAT'S OK.

It was quite a few years ago.
We didn’t hit a wall and die

but we sure came to a dead end.

Glenn and I had been traveling

life’s roadways together

for a long time.

It had been a close
spiritual friendship,

a wonderful blessing.

Then our Spiritual GPS failed.

We found ourselves where
       we couldn’t be,

          quite lost,
    confused and upset. 
What was was no longer.

A spiritual friendship,

as good as it is,

just like all other
goods in life,

is ever changing,

is always limited.

That’s because

all good things are partial,

at least right now.
There's sequence and growth
into God's Fullness -
many partial goodnesses
as we grow into
God's completeness.  
A baby starts out
with mother's milk,
is weaned to
many other forms 
and intensities of nourishment
before it is ready 
for filet mignon.
   

Let’s put it this way.

A spiritual friendship is a lot like
traveling together in a car.

You’re trying to help each other

get somewhere, somewhere good.

At times it is euphoric.

At other times it is dreadful.

Most of the time

it is somewhere in between:

       reassuring, conflicted,

       supportive, trying, clarifying.

Always it is an up close,

       sweet to sour sweaty sharing.

Overall, for all the
limits and changes,

it is definitely a good,
but always a partial good.

At times one’s in the driver’s seat,

at other times there’s a switch off.

Sometimes it’s a matter
of speeding things up.

Other times it means
slowing things down.

Often it’s necessary
to turn a corner,

try an alternate route,

figure your way around a detour,

navigate a rough stretch of road.

The trip requires
shifting gears regularly.

Sometimes, though,

it means abandoning the car

and each getting their own Uber.

               
           Painfully Partial.

                Hard!!

It’s hard to let go a good.

Most of us want to hold on to them,

partial as they always are.

Life just doesn’t play out
that way though.

Please permit me to switch
from cars to cake.

I recently had a piece of chocolate cake,

homemade the old fashioned way,

nothing from a box,

all fresh, organic ingredients.

It was the best ever chocolate cake

in the entire history of the whole world.

OK, SO I HAD A COUPLE OF PIECES!!

Then it was all gone.

DAMN!!!

Well, actually, OK !!

That’s because Goodness,

is experienced in numberless ways

as we journey through life:

people, place, food and drink,

family, nature, music,
art, science, literature -

good upon good.
grace after grace.

All of them are gift.

All of them change.

All of them limited.

All of them partial,

parts of an evolving into

           Fullness.

To cling to one is to loss it

and miss all the rest.

To keep morphing metaphors,

         it’s like music.

We sing one beautiful note
   after another unto a
         Sacred Song.

As pure and beautiful as
each note is, we let it go

as we voice new notes,
evolving an ever fuller
tonal richness.

So it is with every

moment and motion

in our living.

They are gift and

they are partial,

part of 
       The Wholeness,

part of 
       Goodness Unlimited,

            The One 
           many name 
              God,

the Goodness in which we
and all creation grow to

              
          Fullness.

Speaking of names,

Glenn isn’t his real name of course,

but he and I really are
united deep down

in God Goodness, in God Love.

Whether we will ever again

be able to ride share 
after all these years,
to travel life’s roadways 
together anew,

doesn't seem likely.
So much change and timed differences.

What is clear is, though, is that
we have been blessed to be a part
of each other’s journey to Fullness.

Neither of us clings to it.

Both of us are grateful.

Both of us are open
to the final lengths of the journey

however that gift will be given,

moment and motion
partial and evolving.

All this underscores that

our whole life

is a series of partial goods
growing to greatness:

     *a to die for chocolate cake,

     *a Soulmate,

     *a Rocky Mountain retreat,

     *befriending a migrant family,

     *the poetry of Gerard Manley Hopkins,

     *moments of mystical merger,

     *having a baby,

     *landing a great job

     *getting a good night’s sleep

     *paying off a student loan -

partial goods as we journey to

          Complete Good

              Fullness
                  in
                God.


    Patience with the partial.

      Growing to Complete.

        

           As we journey,

            I pray us all

        “Traveling Mercies.”

             
             John Frank

                 
                *****


A big box of thanks for sharing

         "frankly speaking"

with others by word of mouth

and by way of your

social media connections.

It's the main way word gets out

 so we all can connect here each week.

Your help is just that

and is greatly appreciated.

             *****

       

Welcome to those recently joining in

          with us all here at

          “frankly speaking”

      spirituality for the street.
      A very special Shout Out 
to the large number of folks from Ukraine
among them these past few weeks.

To get a sense and perspective

 on how we do this ride share here,

please take a little time and reflection

                     with

        What’s Going On Here?

                     and

         Consider Your Source

       ( right column online )

                    

        

        “frankly speaking”

*is posted online each Thursday evening
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            Thank You

Looking forward to seeing you all next week!!

**********************************************************