Dear All of Us,
"You know what?"
More often than not,
that's way more
a lead into a statement
than a for real question.
It sure is right here, right now.
So, "You know what?
We each are a song
God wants to sing.
In fact, we each are
a song that God
can only sing through us.
Put another way,
we each are
a unique incarnation of God.
God wants to happen as us.
Check the blueprint.
"God created human beings;
he created them godlike,
Reflecting God's nature." (1)
We can take that one to the bank!
And we need to draw on that account
in multiples of many
as we sing out /live out
God Sung Self
It takes truck loads of wisdom
and tons of courage.
The negative that gets into us,
and the negative that surrounds us,
try to silence our song,
try to talk us out of ourselves.
Too often we fail falling for it:
"Man's sin is his failure
to live what he is."(2)
It's essential that we be
- who we are,
- as we are,
- where we are.
It's also and
all so beautifully divine - literally.
To expand on The Bard,
"Who, how, where
to be, or not to be;
that is the question."
How does God want
to happen through us?
The wisdom and courage
needed require
depth awareness,
radical honesty, real reflection,
genuine prayer, honest counsel,
heart heard scripture,
constant currents of grace,
topped with festive delight
and robust joy in being
God Sung Self
As God Sung Self
some "Notes"
to note:
- do I understand and treasure
my body type and
personality pattern?
- what gifts and graces do I have?
- where and how can they be
genuinely shared?
- how does church and culture foster
who, how, where I am?
- how do church and culture frustrate
who. how, where I am?
- am I willing to be unique
in unity with others?
- will I flex with ongoing
discernment of my
who, how, where?
- am I wise to the lies of
selfishness, materialism,
consumerism, egoism,
anemic religiosity,
Empire in all its forms,
manifestation and disguises
- will I see the evil I have done
and the evil done to me
both erupting from false selves,
limiting yet redeemable?
We have powerful models
of the wisdom and courage
it takes to free into being
God Sung Self :
- Abraham: he got a call back
in retirement
- Moses: he had to run away
to come back strong
- Prophets: they spoke
inconvenient truth and
the tab was often their lives
- Jesus: he held steady to his song
as a kid with the Temple Staff
and his mom and dad
when he got home,
in the reality check
of his forty day desert retreat,
under pressures from family and followers
to tone down the theme and tempo of
his God Sung Self,
the challenge and opposition
of upright, up tight
front office religious leaders,
facing freight in the Garden of Gethsemane,
and the horror of his public murder
by the local police
- Paul: a real turn around guy
- Augustine: did it wrong
in spades and with passion,
got righted,
and did it real and right
in spades and with passion
- Francis: cut loose selfish ties
and soared to ecstatic heights
- Gandhi and Mandela: jailed, beaten,
responded without bitterness and led
revolutions in peace and love
- My Mother: she grew deep spiritual roots
to hold herself and our family
steady and safe
right where and as we were
in a troubled time and place
- John Wesley: bucked the
established church,
saved England from social revolution
and opened a way to refreshed
personal and social holiness.
So, here's to you,
God Sung Self
A Blessing
May God bless you with discomfort
At easy answers, half-truths,
and superficial relationships
So that you may live
deep within your heart
May God bless you with anger
At injustice, oppression
and exploitation of people,
So that you may work
for justice, freedom and peace
May God bless you with tears
To shed for those who suffer
pain, rejection, hunger and war,
So that you may reach out
your hand to comfort them and
Turn their pain into joy
And may God bless you
with enough foolishness
To believe that you
can make a difference in the world
So that you do
what others claim cannot be done
To bring justice and kindness
to all our children and the poor. (3)
In God's Flat Out Joy,
John Frank
******
(1) Genesis 1:26, The Message translation
(2) Abraham Heschel, I Asked for Wonder, p.43
(3) A Non-traditional Blessing, Sister Ruth Marlene Fox, OSB - 1985
Greetings of welcome to our first time visitors.
Also, this week a word of recognition for
our faithful, weekly members
from right here in the USA,
some of whom have been part
of our little community
from our get go
four and a half years ago at
"frankly speaking"
spirituality for the street
- posted online early Thursday mornings,
east coast USA time
johnfrankshares.blogspot.com
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- past postings available at Blog Archive
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******
Hey, go ahead.
Let God sing you forth.
For God's sake be you.
Nobody else can do it.
******
