Thursday, December 17, 2020

PUZZLE

    This is the tenth in our

      Occasional Series

    FOLLOW THROUGH

          living out

The Sermon On The Mount

          ******




Dear All of Us,

So how are you with puzzling out,

well, puzzles?

Puzzles like 

- how to stay cool reacting/adapting 

  to ever new and forced  "upgrades"

  to your stable of technologies

 (if that sounds a bit elderly, 

 cranky and autobiographical

 well, it sure as irritated heck is!) 

- spending less than a lifetime 

  on a New York Times 

  Crossword Puzzle,

- assembling an IKIA desk

  without uttering 

  even one swear word,

- figuring out how to keep things 

  from igniting a relational bonfire 

  with your mother-in-lawlessness?


So, whatever our skill (or less) set,

let's have a try at this puzzle.

What do traffic lights, refrigerators,

Krups coffee makers,

doorbells, garage door openers,

and our local ATM,  

all have in common?


You're right!!

For all their differences,

each is a non-starter

without electricity.

It takes that surge 

to kick in and make it a go.


Well, it's quite a lot 

like that with all the 

different  behaviors 

catalogued in 

 The Sermon On 

    The Mount

Matthew 5:21-7:27

as we puzzle out 

how to "be' with it, 

how to "do" it.

Things as varied as:

- a peaceful response 

  when you feel like 

  decking someone,

  making him a mailable

       "Flat Stanley"

  ready for immediate posting

- purity and justice when 

  lust, adultery, divorce tempt

- simple, clean truth telling

  rather than truth twisting verbiage

- loving enemies into union 

- discrete, genuine, quiet 

  alms giving, prayer and fasting, 

  rather than self pumping, 

  public performing at it

- a heart for heaven stored treasures 

- an eye for enlightened looking 

- one master and it isn't money,

- "Not to worry" freedom 

- judgement free living

- holding holy high,

-"Yours' for the asking" prayer

-  behavior's gold standard

- narrow door life,

- heads up - you'll know 

  the source by the result

- walk it more than talk it

- building a rock solid life.


All that Jesus points out

in this monumental sermon

is powered by one electrifying

         Source.

It is embedded at the 

core of who we are.

In fact it is

          THE 

Center of our being.

It holds us in Being.

It is dynamic, energizing, pulsating pure 

          GodLove.

We can't generate that kind of current.

We sure can accept it, though, 

and clear way for its 

   surge beautiful 

through us to others.

It's living from the inside out.

It's being right at home

as Jesus invites,

        "abiding", 

in him and embracing him 

        "abiding" 

          in us, 

and that at our deepest self.

It doesn't happen with 

skimpy, selfish, surface living.

It means wonderful, 

deep-in-divine love making.

God is Love and we can be as well.

It's a merged Oneness.

GodLove ever expands 

who and how we are. 

Its current pulsates 

in us and through us.


The particulars of the

  The Sermon On

    The Mount

are not primarily things

for us to do or not to do

      on our own.

That would be a crippling 

     "No Can Do!"

Rather, they are things that God 

would be about in establishing

      The Kingdom.

We disciples are asked to be

the change agents for this, truly be

       "salt of the earth"

       "light of the world"

God making the difference through us, 

Being the Power Source.


The critical thing is to 

      Be There, 

centered in our Center.

That's the core 

of our spiritual life.

Real "at-homeness"

      "abiding"

          in

      GodLove

  powered forth in

  Kingdom living.


  A simple, homey, 

even hokey, metaphor: 

  We are power tools 

completely plugged into 

   Divine Current.


What Jesus teaches us here

is how to puzzle out

the practical, functional,

on the street, living out 

        of the eight

       BEATTITUDES

with which he began this sermon, this 

  Disciples' How To Be and Do.


     Before we go out 

         we go in 

    so we can go out

      real and right.

That resolves 

the puzzling particulars 

in our spiritual living.


It's like a couple so "in" love 

that they can't help but

   LIVE OUT LOVE.

They know what to do 

and are powered to do it.


First for us now is accepting 

       Centered Love,

then the giving of self, 

widening in the giving 

to the other, so that now there is 

                "US"

      God - Neighbor- Self

           

Time  to stop here and go

         CENTRAL

 go to our love chamber 

            to 

   Pray and Ponder

 This Beautiful Puzzle.


   Blessings as we 

     "Go Figure!"

      John Frank

        ******


Again and always, a great big

         THANK YOU 

for sharing with others

our weekly Soul Share here at

       "frankly speaking"

    spirituality for the street

- it goes online by mid-day

         each Thursday

     east coast USA time

  johnfrankshares.blogspot.com

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- Blog Archive contains all

         past postings

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Every week it's a joy to greet 

folks joining in here 

for the first time.

This past week we had 

our first ever visit from Azerbaijan.

You can bet I triple checked 

to make sure I spelled that right!

To one and all visitors,

   WELCOME!!

Please come back 

anytime/all the time.


Here's to  a fruitful week

  Puzzling the Paradox 

        of being

   a change agent,

   a Kingdom disciple,

   one who for real

   FOLLOWS THROUGH,

        living out

The Sermon On The Mount. 

        *************