Dear All of Us,
Imaging people
driving backwards,
saying white is black,
black is white,
putting their
right and left shoes
on the opposite foot,
flying from New York
to Paris by way of
Los Angeles and Sydney,
putting salt on
their Cheerios
and sugar on their
mashed potatoes?
Really pretty crazy,
right, or is it left?
Given the above,
and given that
pot is so popular
and prevalent
here in DC,
let me assure that
I've had nothing stronger
than two cups of coffee this
"start - the - blog"
Monday morning.
That's really so and
"REALLY"
is the question
of the day and of the
craziness above.
Let's see it and say it.
We live in a
Mad Hatter world,
one in free fall,
one that is
maddeningly
UNREAL
It's what the
Book of Revelation
calls
EMPIRE
It's like driving backwards
on the freeway of shared life,
wrong directed, deadly:
dominance of the privileged,
possession for the few,
poverty for the masses,
a middle class
materialism-managed
into compliance,
governance and commerce
too often operating
at the moral level
of eighth grade
playground bullies,
institutional religion
captive and chaplain
to Empire.
Unreal, wrong directed.
Ah, but
and there is
an "ah" and a "but."
Jesus introduced,
invites,
not
"alternate facts"
nor
an alternate
faux reality,
as in
Empire
but blessedly
"Jesus announced,
lived, and inaugurated
for history a new social order.
He called it The Reign of God,
The Kingdom of God...
REALLY REAL."
(1)
This "kin-domain"
is mentioned over
eighty times in
The New Testament.
From the get go
of his ministry,
Jesus announced it
and detailed it:
"Jesus went throughout Galilee
teaching in their synagogues
and proclaiming the good news
of the kingdom..."
Matthew 4:23
The Sermon On The Mount
is a wonderful "sampler"
in which Jesus explains living it
- attitudes and actions -
Matthew 5:1-7:28
REALLY REAL
The Reign of God
The Kingdom of God
is community,
immediate and felt,
a matter of the heart,
of coming alive
at our center,
really accepting and living
the life and teaching of Jesus,
caring and sharing,
close in and way beyond,
in our communal here and now.
So we look to where we can find
God Love Lived Community
The Reign of God
The Kingdom of God
REALLY REAL
If we can't find it, we found it.
Let's hear Jesus out,
let his words
Spirit Soak
us
infuse our hearts.
Let's apply them to
who and how
we are and can be
as kingdom people.
Some specific notetaking,
practical, personal and
community applied,
might be a big help here:
- what do we imagine
it was like for people
to hear these words
directly from Jesus,
living in the midst of
Empire,
The Roman Empire,
of their day?
- what is our initial reaction
to them?
- what's the main point(s)
that Jesus is sharing here?
- what do they mean for me/us
as we are now?
- what do they mean for me/us
going forward -
how "be and do" them?
- how about doing all this
with a Soul Friend or
with a small group from
our spiritual community,
or those trying to find one?
JESUS
"These words I speak
to you are not
incidental additions
to your life,
homeowner improvements
to your standard of living.
They are foundational words,
words to build a life on." (2)
"Are you tired?
Worn out?
Burned out
on religion?
Come to me.
Get away with me
and you'll recover
your life.
I'll show you how
to take a real rest.
Walk with me and
work with me -
watch how I do it.
Learn the unforced
rhythms of grace.
I won't lay anything
heavy or ill-fitting
on you.
Keep company
with me
and you'll learn
to live freely
and lightly. (3)
"In a word,
what I'm saying is
Grow up.
You're kingdom subjects.
Now live like it.
Live out your
God-created identity.
Live generously
and graciously
toward others,
the way God
lives toward you." (4)
"Thy Kingdom come
on earth as it is
in heaven" (5)
and pray that be
right in our neighborhood,
perhaps even a small group
gathering in our home.
For sure
REALLY REAL
John Frank
*****
(1) Richard Rohr
Daily Meditation,
November 15, 2020
(2) Matthew 7:24
The Message
(3) Matthew 11:28-30
The Message
(4) Matthew 5:48
The Message
(5) Matthew 6:10
******
An aid to participating in
a spiritual community
that is actually, practically,
given to living together
The Reign of God
The Kingdom of God
The Really Real
follows for reflection and prayer
- on our own/with others.
Just scroll down.
******
A
"REALLY REAL!"
Welcome
to
"frankly speaking"
spirituality for the street
POSTED
Wednesday afternoons
east coast USA time
johnfrankshares.blogspot.com
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found right column
online posting.
**************
PONDER AND PRAY
REALLY REAL COMMUNITY
" The kingdom of heaven
is like a treasure
hidden in a field,
which a man found
and hid again;
and from joy over it
he goes and sells
all he has and
buys that field."
Jesus
Matthew 13:44
It's the
"REALLY REAL!"
Deal
and what a find!!
In today's terms,
what does it mean
to "buy in" completely,
like the man in
the example Jesus gives?
What's it cost?
Jesus did not found a religion.
He offered joining together
to live in The Reign of God.
Those who did so
were originally called
"Followers of the Way."
Eventually their shared life
was formalized in
a structured way.
It became a religion
and took many forms
as it does today.
Constantine converted
that into Empire,
into the state religion.
The result was not
religion pure and simple.
Richard Rohr summarized
the coopting of Christianity
by Empire:
"It's possible to trace
the movement of Christianity
from the earliest days until now.
In Israel, Jesus and the early "church"
offered people an experience;
it moved to Greece,
and it became a philosophy.
When it moved to Rome
and Constantinople,
it became an organized religion.
Then it spread to Europe,
and it became a culture.
Finally, it moved to North America
and became a business...
Even inside each of these iterations,
as misguided as they were
- and still are today -
humble, loving, people emerged
in every one of them.
Podcast
"Jesus and the Empire"
"Another Name for Everything"
session 3, episode 4, March 7, 2020
What do you understand
the above to mean for
the structure and experience
of religion as we have it today?
How much is it
Jesus experience,
philosophy,
religion,
culture,
business?
"By their fruits
you will
know them."
Jesus
Matthew 7:16
In all honesty, what's the
spiritual "fruit" produced
by the religious community
to which we belong
or are considering?
In what ways is it,
or is it not,
an actual living together of
The Beatitudes and
The Sermon On The Mount?
Matthew 5:1 to 7:28
Let' be specific.
"Let me give you
a new commandment:
Love one another.
In the same way
I have loved you,
you love one another.
This is how people
will recognize that
you are my disciples -
when they see
the love you have
for each other."
Jesus
John 13:34-35
When people stop by
the religious community
to which we belong
or are considering,
how much mutual love,
Jesus-like love,
do they see,
is vibrating,
all over the place?
What is there to be
"recognized"?
Do we find
for real disciples?
Let's detail the level
and likes of the love
lived there.
What are ten
perfect examples of it,
or the sad failure of it?
Jesus taught us to pray
"Thy kingdom come.
Thy will be done,
on earth as in heaven."
Mathew 6:10
Let's detail how our
our spiritual community,
or one we may be considering,
is like The Kingdom of Heaven,
as Jesus lived and taught it,
or not so.
Would we dare claim
that heaven is like
this community?
How so?
We face a critical time,
a tipping point, globally.
- the rise of fascist
nationalism
- sheer, bedrock truth
perverted, pulverized
into contrived,
self serving sand
that just can't hold
up to reality
- an environment
so abused it teeters
on exhaustion
and inability
to sustain life
- the "haves" having most
and the "have nots"
not having enough
- unfaced and unresolved
racial and ethnic evil
- an inability to live diversity
in unity
How is this
spiritual community
out front in addressing
all this and offering practical
Jesus Solutions, or not?
What are they?
Jesus said:
"I am the way,
the truth
and the life."
John 14:6
How does this community
genuinely live and share
that "way"
that "truth"
that "life"
of Jesus, or fail to do so?
Examples?
So, what do we do?
As mentioned above
in this week's posting,
we find or found a community,
one that, however imperfect,
together embraces and lives
what Jesus gives -
"Jesus announced, lived,
and inaugurated for history
a new social order.
He called it The Reign of God,
The Kingdom of God...
REALLY REAL" (1 above)
See you in church.
That might be
across town.
That might just be
in your living room
or your back yard.
Wherever, may it be
REALLY REAL
******
