Dear All of Us,
So how about 102 year old
Mildred Geraldine "Gerri" Schappals
up there in New Hampshire?
As an infant in 1918 she survived
an attack of the Spanish Flu.
In May 2020 she tested positive for COVID-19,
survived, and now is doing just fine.
In-between those dangerous bookends
she survived both colon and breast cancer.
Now get this.
Gerri credits her love of wine
for a good part of her longevity.
"Jesus did not change water into wine
at Cana so we cold look at it," she said.
(USA Today, September 20, 2020)
Now that's my kind of 102 year old!
What grit, cheek, audacity,
vigor, pizzazz, chutzpah, what
SPUNK
Speaking of spunk,
after nap time some day
- hers and mine -
I'd love to have
a couple of glasses of wine with Gerri
and play a few hands of UNO.
Bet she plays a "mean" game.
"Mean" as in full hearted, vigorous,
all out, nothing held back,
not caving to caution,
going for whatever you get,
whatever is there,
playing the cards you're dealt and that with
SPUNK
laughing at winning or loosing
because ultimately what does the score mean?
What's to take home?
Nada, except the wondrous recharge from
from a rather sacred sort of shared life,
whatever the odds or score.
That' a winning hand for sure.
Gerri's wine wisdom reminds me that
the best way to play
the game of life is a
Spirituality of Spunk
It's a spirituality of vigorously living
what's at hand, be that sickness or health,
things light or heavy, calm or turbulent,
and not just sitting on the sidelines of life
staring stymied to stupor
because things are different,
different easy or different difficult.
If water has been intensified to wine,
we don't fuss about it, we go for it.
If it's time to pick up our cross,
we get a move on.
Easy or hard this SoulLiving
mixes us up with
God, neighbor and nature.
We literally "deal" with
whatever we're dealt
and we do so with soulful
SPUNK
Play to win and we lose a lot anyway,
and if we win so what!.
Play it safe and we've already lost.
Play to play and we win that
"sacred shared life."
God - Neighbor - Nature
Play for good, go for it with
SPUNK
Play anything but solitaire and it's a
Holy Communion at the altar of share.
"So, OK Gerri:
Show your cards.
Oh yes, white or red?"
God Bless Every Sassy, Spunky One Of Us!
John Frank
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So often we are so blessed with new folks
joining in with us. Among others this week,
63 people stopped by all the way from Portugal.
Thanks and welcome to you and all our
first time visitors. It's like at The Olive Garden:
"When You're Here You're Family."
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Thanks as well to all that tell others of
our weekly gathering here at
"frankly speaking"
spirituality for the street
- it goes online each Thursday by mid-day
east coast USA time
johnfrankshares.blogspot.com
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- past postings are accessible from
Blog Archive
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Sunday
November 1, 2020
ALL SAINTS DAY
Happy Feast Day!
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