Thursday, July 30, 2020
TUNED TO THE TOUCH
This is the third part of our
Summer Series.
We are exploring how to
FOLLOW THROUGH
on living
The Sermon On The Mount.
******
Dear All of Us,
Classics and craftsmanship.
They see it right and get it right.
Pure excellence:
a perfectly restored
1932 Ford 5 Window Coupe
Andrew Wyeth's Renfield painting
the Italian stonemasons at
The Washington National Cathedral
Suzanne McCarthy's signature dish:
Pork tenderloin with Blackberry Sauce
Lladro's Passionate Kiss Couple
Thomas Merton's
Seeds of Contemplation
Bach's St. Matthew Passion
Nolan Ryan's seven no hitters
In the case of the Peragallo Family,
they not only see it right,
they hear it right,
and make it right.
For over one hundred years,
and now into the fourth generation,
they create and care for pipe organs.
We had one of their classics at
Assumption Church.
Before high holydays and concerts,
the Peragallo's would come
to "voice" the organ.
Each pipe was made to play
with the proper onset of sound
(known as speech),
sustained tone, and volume.
It was pure excellence -
the organ tuned to respond exactly
to the touch and genius of the organist.
TUNED TO THE TOUCH
That's what God crafts through the
BE ATTITUDES.
In eight classics they play true,
"voice" us, Tune to Reality,
to God and God's wonderous Creation
.
Consider
"Blessed are the meek,
for they will inherit the earth."
First off, to fully and freely consider it
we need to "voice" the word meek.
The modern English "meek"
altogether misses the the meaning.
The original Greek used
in this scripture means
good will towards others and
reverent obedience toward God -
"voiced" to Reality,
that right next to us
and on out to its Fullness
that never finishes - God.
As "poor in spirit" is the opposite
of proud in spirit, full of self,
so "meek" is the opposite
in both nature and act
of being aggressive.
The meek are not weak.
The meek are strong enough
to be gentle.
They are not harsh,
self-assertive, covetous,
do not trample in brute force.(1)
To be meek is to have reverence
for God and all God's
people and creation,
to enjoy a comfortableness,
an at homeness,
a oneness with "Oneness".
The meek are in sync with the sacred.
As a child of the universe
and beyond without limit,
they "inherit" all that is.
They don't have to get it.
It is given.
It comes in the union.
The meek are relaxed and at peace,
right at home in Reality.
They are empty of isolating "Self Stuff".
The don't try to "power through"
to domination because
they are solid and secure
in the energy and strength
of Godness.
They accept an inheritance
beyond measure or limit
rather than fighting and fouling
to the cruel poverty of aggression.
That aggression can be physical.
More often it is social, financial,
psychic, emotional, racial, religious -
all manipulation and dominance.
By contrast, the meek have
a heaven of a God Time.
They delight in the harmony of Reality.
The meek are free to relish creation
rather than exhaust their being
failing to create one
of their aggressive dominance.
They don't have to steal
the other kids' toys
because they have toys
without limit to share
and they live with
The Toy maker.
All the
BE ATTITUDES
invite an approach
that roams free in
Reality as given
rather than getting wasted
trying to be a petty god
founded on falseness,
damaging self and all
in the futility
of that frightful folly.
BE ATTITUDES
invite us
to be centered
in the Center,
rather than chasing our tails
around and around
in a deadening circle zero.
The Peragallo Family
tune the organ
to respond exactly
to the touch and genius
of the organist.
Through the
BE ATTITUDES
God tunes us
to respond exactly
to the touch and genius
that is his.
TUNED TO THE TOUCH
"Happy" are we,
"Blessed" are we
so "voiced" to
FOLLOW THROUGH.
In God's Dear Love,
John Frank
******
(1) The first section of this paragraph
draws generously and gratefully
from The Interpreter's Bible,
Volume Seven, Abingdon Press,
Nashville, 1951, pgs.282 & 283.
******
Thanks to all who have been sharing
"frankly speaking"
spirituality for the street
with friends and colleagues.
We are a little Family in Love,
gathering here weekly from all across
God's Good earth.
An open hearted WELCOME to all our
first time visitors. Thanks for joining in.
"frankly speaking"
- is posted each Thursday before dinner,
often well before that - east coast USA time.
johnfrankshares.blogspot.com
- arrives weekly by automatic email delivery
on Fridays - sign up top right of this page.
- past posting are available at Blog Archive -
right column, bottom.
YOU'RE A "CLASSIC" AND WHAT A CREATOR !!
******
Thursday, July 23, 2020
"GOOD GRIEF!"
This is the second in our Summer Series
FOLLOW THROUGH
Dear All of Us,
To grow up the kid in us has to find out two painful things:
- There really is no such thing as a Santa Claus
- There really is no such thing as an "ouch-less" band aid
It gets rougher from there.
- You can't go out and play in the rain
- your best friend moves to Topeka
- Your pet fish dies and then it's your grandmother
- You have to start wearing glasses at ten
- Adults screw up
- You get into some significant sin.
- You flunk out (beauty pageant, college, marriage, parenting, business)
- "America the Beautiful" sometimes isn't all that good looking
- Pastors talk the talk, but some don't walk the walk
- And speaking of walk, the spiritual life isn't exactly a cake walk
every day.
Loss and mourning.
"GOOD GRIEF!"
Well, grief for sure, but not at all good.
Mourning over pain, failure, loss - a hurt hit!
Then here comes Jesus telling us
HAPPY ARE THEY THAT MOURN,
FOR THEY SHALL BE COMFORTED.
The comfort part ok, but "mourning"?
Forget it.
And what's so "Happy" about it?
We're outta here !
And we're not alone.
Our whole culture will go any lengths in pain and grief avoidance.
Well, let's widen the lens and see what we see,
personally and as a person part of a people.
We're dealing here with loss and consequent pain.
Mourning is both.
And it involves a pallet of pain.
We may lose
- a loved one
- our temper
- our virtue
- opportunities
- profit or popularity
- confidence
- face
- patience
- preference or position
- our sense of humor
- the car keys to our faith
As a people we may lose
- our ideals
- our way
- equity and justice
- common purpose and cooperation
- prosperity
- reverence for Mother Earth
- unity and peace
- refinement and civility
- grace and Godliness
Loss, personal or public, leads to grief and mourning.
The root words here are telling
a sense of sorrow (grief from ME greven)
a sense of anxiety (mourn from ME mournen)
Someone or thing vital is lost, dead or dying.
That agitates, saddens. unnerves, disconcerts deeply.
We mourn.
We mourn all sorts of loss.
So, back to Jesus and his beatitude
HAPPY ARE THEY THAT MOURN,
FOR THEY SHALL BE COMFORTED.
Our situation is not static.
We're evolving.
We're in the mix and chaos of creation,
in the midst of God's kingdom come and coming.
Leaves bud, blossom, die, decompose
and over millions of years are pressed into oil.
Neanderthals walked for water, shelter and food
and now we drive to restaurants, and rocket to the moon.
There is gain, yet loss, more gain, yet more loss,
yet ever more gain and growth.
Loss hurts.
Loss loosens to expansion.
Loss frees for evolution.
Loss teaches that we are part, not the whole.
Loss makes us let go of "as is" for what "can be".
We mourn loss and are then comforted
as we become part of more.
We mourn our sins, the loss of goodness.
We mourn the clashes and conflict of the nations,
the loss of The Common Good.
We mourn the pain of the ill and suffering,
their loss of health and vigor.
We mourn the plight of the marginalized,
their loss of power and opportunity.
Jesus assures us that
if we face into loss and mourning
and look to the kingdom come and coming,
we will be comforted,
(Latin com=with and fortis=fortified).
We will be fortified and strengthened
as we grow into unending more,
God's evolving Creation,
the kingdom so far and to come.
Loss won't let us sit still.
It forces us to let go.
That opens us to evolve.
That is ultimately a blessed and happy thing.
Actually the word used in these scriptures
for happiness is the Greek for the highest stage
of human happiness and well being.
Like the ancient Israelites,
we mourn, we lament
the present condition of God's people,
of God's way and work in the world
as it is just now.
Like them in their desolation,
we do not accept things as they are,
nor as final and fixed.
Like them we do lament and mourn
the mess of the moment.
Like them we mourn
that God's final kingdom
has not yet come and that
God's will is not yet done.
( See Isaiah 61: 1-11)
We are in the already kingdom come
and we are longing for its final and full realization -
the coming (eschatological) kingdom of God.
"Happily" we are fortified for the venture,
as we mourn present loss and evolve forward to fulfilment.
It's sort of like the old fashioned Irish Wake.
We're in the front parlor praying and weeping at the casket.
Then we go into the backyard and have one heaven of a party.
"GOOD GRIEF!"
John Frank
******
A warm (very warm here in DC) summer welcome
to our first time visitors.
Among them were extensive groups from
Romania and Turkmenistan.
It's just great for all of us to be together here.
"frankly speaking"
spirituality for the street
- is posted each Thursday well before the dinner hour,
east coast USA time, at johnfrankshares.blogspot.com
- is send out by automatic weekly on Fridays - sign up
above right
- past postings can be accessed at Blog Archive, left column bottom
Please consider sharing the above with family, friends, associates. Thanks!
SEE YOU NEXT WEEK
******
Thursday, July 16, 2020
WHAT AN ATTITUDE
This is the first of our Summer Series
FOLLOW THROUGH
******
Dear All of Us,
"What an attitude!"
That can be a complaint or a compliment.
That can be a put down or a lift up.
It all depends.
We can have one hell of an attitude.
We can have one wonderful attitude.
Our attitude can be damning.
It can be redeeming.
Attitude is our approach, our stance,
the trajectory, the angle, the tone of our living.
Attitude is our mode, our manner of
"be" ing.
It's how we come at life
and how we position as life comes at us.
Get it right and things are just that.
Get it wrong and that's what we get.
Jesus gets it so completely right.
His character, his living, his teaching
speak it, show it.
They model attitude for us.
These summer weeks
here at "frankly speaking"
we survey his Soul Share,
his summary teaching,
The Sermon on the Mount,
and how we can
Follow Through
by living it.
Before getting into specifics,
Jesus first sets the tone,
the approach, the stance,
the manner and mode for living
our Follow Through.
In eight different harmonies
he sings his attitudes on being, his
BE ATTITUDES.
All eight are pathways to
bliss, happiness, blessedness.
Each is a perfect fit for walking life's way.
Each is also so counter cultural that they all seem
to be like going against traffic on a one way street.
Well, that's so.
Just as so, the Be Attitudes reroute, road right us.
They put us on a completely different life trajectory,
give us a totally new mode of "be"ing.
Let's have a look and listen and a living.
BLESSED ARE THE POOR IN SPIRIT,
FOR THEIRS IS THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN
The only way to be filled up is to empty out.
We need to get free from the grip
of every notion, effort, item,
person, place or thing
we count on for basic and ultimate
security, success, fulfilment.
That leaves nothing,
making room for everything.
That poverty clears our spirit
for God's fulfillment -
complete security,
total success,
unlimited enrichment -
God based and given.
It means living in the divine zone -
the very kingdom of heaven.
Sure, we buy food, own a car,
enjoy a good show, save for retirement.
They are elements of our giftedness,
not the whole of it, nor our life base.
They are passing immediacies,
part of a whole,
while not at all the whole.
"Poor in spirit" means
we do not allow possessions and powers
to posses primacy of place,
be they emotional, relational, financial,
intellectual, spiritual, material,
our talents, capacities or position.
We hold them all appreciatively and lightly,
never trying to parlay them to
where they can't go nor take us.
We let go pride of place,
ourselves as the center of things
and all our contrivances.
We let go of everyone and everything
we use as our base and surety
and are had and held by God.
This is the hard part and the best part.
Clutching no one nor anything
we are wide open and
we are ravished in God's Love.
This first Be Attitude is translated
into contemporary English as:
"You're blessed when you are
at the end of your rope.
With less of you
there is more of God
and his rule."
The Message
Being poor in spirit is like giving up
a McDonald's burger and fries
to enjoy a Michelin Three Star dining experience.
God is wildly in love with us.
God wants to sweep us up into
an ecstatic, passionate divine dance.
We need to make sure there's no clutter
on then dance floor.
Nothing there means everything -
everything out of the way,
everything and infinitely more
to then be experienced
in God's passionate embrace.
It's a big day when we trade in
our security blanket.
That's the day we get wrapped
into Lovers' Oneness - God
It's an even bigger day,
a life deciding one,
when we resign
attempting to be
Number One.
That poverty of position
opens the way to be factored into
THE INTEGRITY, THE FULLNESS
THE ONE GOD
dwelling now in the Kingdom Come
and forever in the Kingdom Coming.
How blessed, blissful, happy
are we when poor in spirit.
WHAT AN ATTITUDE
"The Good Lord willing
and if the creek don't rise...",
more next week on Jesus and his
Attitudes on how to Be
and our
Follow Through.
I pray we all
Be Well,
John Frank
******
A SEGGESTION
David Brooks preached
an outstanding interpretation of
our current cultural context,
and what is at issue as we strive to
FOLLOW THROUGH
It is an excellent source for
PRAYER AND PONDER.
It is available online at
Washington National Cathedral
Sunday, July 5, 2020
A THANKS AND A SUGGESTION
My dear friend, Phil Russo, shared
"Gaudete et Exsultate"
"On the Call To Holiness In Today's World"
Apostolic Exhortation of Pope Francis.
Many thanks to Phil for this gem.
It is a superb primer for our spiritual lives as we
FOLLOW THROUGH
so that
"I live now, not I, but Christ lives in me. "
It is available online.
Print copy is published by
Pauline
Books and Media
BOSTON
ISBN 10:0-8198-3143-3
Vatican Translation
******
It's so good to "be" together here
with new folks each week.
Among many others this week,
we were blessed with a large showing
from Ireland.
Welcome to you and all
our other new participants.
"frankly speaking"
spirituality for the street
- is posted each Thursday
before the dinner hour,
east coast USA time
johnfrankshares.blogspot.com
- is delivered by automatic email
each Friday - sign up top right above
- past postings are available at
Blog archive, lower right column.
HAVE A GOOD WEEK
___________________________________________________