Dear All of Us,
SOMETHING OLD and SOMETHING NEW
Yearning for a new way will not produce it. Only ending the
old way can do that.
You cannot hold onto the old, all the while declaring that you
want something new;
The old will defy the new.
The old will deny the new;
The old will decry the new.
There is only one way to bring in the new. You must make
room for it.
Neale Donald Walsch
Hopefully a NEW year.
John Frank
Dear All of Us,
My oldest daughter
just had a birthday.
She asked our family
for a unique present.
Would each of us gift her
with a time and place
to be together,
to just be present to each other.
I invited her for a leisurely Sunday stroll
through the National Arboretum here in DC.
The present of presence.
The birth of Jesus is God asking us
for a unique present,
to be together,
to be present to each other.
The present of presence.
MERRY PRESENCE
John Frank
******
Dear All of Us,
A lot of us older folks
have a hey of a time
convincing our computers
to keep it simple.
Old, young or mid-drift,
("The devil made me do it!')
many most of us
have a hay of a time
getting our spiritual lives
to keep it simple.
Yet simple they are.
Our spiritual life
is simply to
NOTICE
is simply to
NOTICE
UNTO UNION
To do that we calm
into to our deepest.
That takes settling,
stilling, quieting of
all the hurry scurry
that keeps us stuck
on surface stuff.
We disrobe.
The drapings of the
False Self
- fear, arrogance,
puffy posturing,
disconnectedness,
defensiveness,
disregard,
callous individualism -
slowly fall away.
We let go figuring,
construct, control.
So freed, comfortable
in our naked beauty,
we rest secure, safe in
What Is
in the embrace of
The Love That Is God
(1 John 4:8)
The Ground Of
Our Being
(Paul Tillich)
We slowly,
gently,
more and more
become aware of
our existence base,
NOTICE
God gazing
at us
in sheer delight.
In delighted response,
we join the gaze.
We see as we are seen.
It's a mutuality unto
Oneness
Progressively:
We see God.
We see ourselves in God.
We see as God sees.
We see God in all we see.
"But the basic
reality of God
is plain enough.
Open your eyes
and there it is!
By taking a long
and thoughtful look
at what God has created,
people have always
been able to see
what their eyes
as such can't see:
eternal power,
for instance,
and the mystery of
his divine being,"
(Romans 1:19-20 )
The Message
As we noted last week:
"Seeing as one with God
we see others, nature,
all creation, as they are
in God's sight.
We see them in their
fundamental freshness,
purity and goodness."
Happily our spiritual life
is simply to
NOTICE
unto union
ALL THAT IS
We then see
so much more,
ever so much more.
We "see" with all five senses.
We "see" with intellect, intuition,
reflection, experience, memory,
prayer and meditation, ritual.
To
NOTICE
unto union
- we employ a gentle life pace
- we eschew the blinding,
distracting glare of
trivialized activity
- we welcome, wide-eyed,
WHAT IS
- we cleanse the lens
of perception
- we look within and beyond
and all about
- we open our eyes to surprise
- we notice so openly that we merge
- we notice God in all and all in God
- we eventually notice the mystery,
the paradox, that we and all that is
are God creatively unique in
ONENESS
We notice the intricate
designs and varied textures
of trees, leaves, flowers,
fruits and vegetables.
We notice the energetic glee
of children at play.
We notice the dynamism
of sea and storm.
We notice the wisdom of elders.
We notice the marvels
science sees and shares.
We notice the profundity of
scripture and sacred writings.
We notice the consideration
and care of a patient physician.
We notice the majesty of music.
We notice the weave and feel
of a new coat.
We notice from 35,000 feet
the hard harsh beauty of the
Grand Canyon.
We notice the vigor
of a hearty red paired
with fresh sauce and linguini
(al dente of course)
We notice the day to day
and loyal companionship
of our life partner, dearest friend,
parents, children.
We notice Empire and its citizens
perverting and polluting creation.
We notice how absolute
the need to bond tighter in
the "Kin-domain of God",
the "Rain Shower of God."
We notice our shared call
to be about reclamation.
We notice those devastated.
We enfold and nurture them in
the healing of resurrection care.
We notice so much that we merge.
The surname for
NOTICE
is
CONTEMPLATION
It is the aperture opening to
ONENESS
as
GOD IS ONE
and all is
One in God.
It's "ONE-der-full"
for us to be here together,
seeing God in all,
seeing as God sees,
to simply
NOTICE
John Frank
******
"frankly speaking"
spirituality for the street
johnfrankshares.blogspot.com
******
Dear All of Us,
When it comes to a vote,
"The ayes have it."
When it comes to
our spiritual living,
"THE EYES HAVE IT"
Truly
"It all depends on how
we see things."
Looking at things in
fear, anger, lust,
greed, arrogance,
dims to darkness
how we see and
what we see.
We stumble
in that darkness,
limited and limiting,
hurt and hurting,
lost and losing.
Seeing things as
God sees them,
or if you prefer,
seeing things
in the light of
Reality,
opens our eyes
to the brightness
and splendor of
ALL THAT IS
and our oneness
in that
ALL
So how do we
get our vision
adjusted and
corrected to
20/20
We go deep within.
We open the eyes
of our soul
of our inner awareness.
We see ourselves
centered in
Reality
centered in
Existence
centered in
Being
centered in
what makes us
and what
makes us go,
centered in
All That Is,
centered in
God
So centered
we see God
"..closer to us
than we are
to ourselves"
as Augustine reflects.
Meister Eckhard said that
between God and the soul
"...there is neither
strangeness nor distance."
This oneness with and in God
is affirmed and clarified
in scripture:
"For by these He has granted
to us His precious and
magnificent promises,
so that by them
you may become
partakers of the divine nature..."
2 Peter1:4
"...your life is hidden
with Christ in God."
Collassians 3:3
In this centered Oneness
we see God gazing at us
in delight.
We accept
that gaze,
that seeing.
We join it.
We see as
we are seen
in
The Love
Who Is God
This is so clear in
my little grandson.
His parents spend
lots of attention
gazing at him in love,
smiling in delight.
Little as he is,
he gets it - literally!
He gets their
delighted gaze
so really that he joins in,
and all smiles,
gazes back at them.
It's a mutuality,
a shared vision,
couple and child,
"a delight to see you"
times two unto
ONE
At the deepest level,
"THE EYES HAVE IT"
Through Paul we see how
our eyes open to God
and God's seeing:
"We don't yet see things clearly.
We're squinting in a fog,
peering through a mist.
But it won't be long before
the weather clears and
the sun shines bright!
We'll see it all then,
see it all as clearly
as God sees us,
knowing him directly
just as he knows us!
But for right now,
until that completeness,
we have three things to do
to lead us toward
that consummation:
Trust steadily in God,
hope unswervingly,
love extravagantly.
And the best
of the three is love."
1 Corinthians 13: 12-13
The Message
Living and looking
like that
we'll see things
so wonderfully
real and right.
We'll progressively
see as God sees,
sharing God's sight.
That will mean
we bask secure in
God's delighted gaze
at us.
God approved, we are
self-accepting, delighted.
No need "to act out"
or "act up" trying
to prove anything
or get approval.
Seeing as one with God
we see others, nature,
all creation, as they are
in God and in God's sight.
We see them in their
fundamental freshness,
purity and goodness.
We also see
evil and perversion
violating this beautiful creation.
We see people and nature
suffering that.
We see them and other people
working to right it.
We see them as agents of
God's redemption and salvation
- the work of loving recreation.
There's marvelously more to see.
Next week let's look closer
at seeing as we open wide
the aperture
of
NOTICE
Our spiritual life is
Seeing Eye To Eye,
Heart to Heart
God and us,
taking all in together
and seeing all as together.
Yes,
"THE EYES HAVE IT"
Thanks for the chance
to take this look together.
John Frank
******
Please do invite
family, friends,
and colleagues
to take a look at
"frankly speaking"
spirituality for the street
johnfrankshares.blogspot.com
Thanks!
See you next week.
******
Dear All of Us,
Trying to figure forward, we puzzle:
How do you get there from here?
It could be planning a trip,
considering a career change,
designing a project at work,
building a tree house for a child,
planning a dinner party.
The biggest of the big, of course,
is how do we figure forward
in life itself so that it turns out
to be real, genuine, good,
what it's meant to be.
"How do you get there from here?"
The night before he died
Jesus huddled with the team,
pulled them in tight,
a whole communion,
sharing with them and us
how to figure forward
so that life is real, genuine, good,
what it is meant to be, clarifying
How do you get there from here:
"I am the way,
and the truth,
and the life;
no one comes
to the Father
but through me."
John 14;6
WOW!!
So that's how to figure forward,
not just in our heads,
but in our total selves,
and all our living.
So that's how to be in community,
sharing life in the Kin-Domain,
the Rain of God's Way.
Jesus models and shares
how we get there from here.
We live him.
We have a way to go.
We have bedrock truth.
We have a life.
Out here on the street
of everyday life
we go about it the way
Jesus taught and lived,
how Jesus offers to live in us
in our here and now.
He is how we figure forward.
We live him.
He is our way of life
our grounding in truth itself,
the life that enlivens us.
Our value system, life style,
work, relationships, recreation,
are those of Jesus
lived in the particulars of
our here and now.
With us it's not just WWJD,
What Would Jesus Do.
With us it's
What Jesus Wants To Do
in and through us.
Everything is involved.
What kind of housing we have.
What we drive.
What we ware.
What we do with
our time and money.
What we do to work
peace in our place.
What we do to reverence
the planet.
What of ourselves
we share with others.
What forgiveness we ask and give.
What we read and watch.
What way we vote.
What we put into living
in a spiritual community.
What we let go of and
allow God to in-fold us in
the deepest of intimate love.
What disciplines and sacrifices
we embrace to be open
to God's Love coming to us and
to sharing God's Love with others.
What times and ways open us
to a contemplative life.
Jesus figures us forward in life itself
so that it turns out to be real,
genuine, good, what it's meant to be.
In him, him in us, we fall in love,
we live love, we become love.
We love God, neighbor and self,
most personally and practically
moving forward out here
on the street of everyday life.
That's how we get from our here
to our forever there.
So grateful we can
figure forward
together,
John Frank
See you next week here at
frankly speaking
spirituality for the street
johnfrankshares.blogspot.com
******
We figure forward,
move on in life
immersed in the truth,
the realness of Jesus.
That's how we connect with
Ultimate Reality - God.
We come alive living
the life that is Jesus.