Dear All of Us,
Good Morning,
Good Afternoon,
Good Evening
to us all
where and when
we are in our just nows
on this spinning orb.
My just now is Monday morning
here in Washington, DC - much prayer
and three cups of coffee into this posting.
Well, where/when/however we are,
here we go into
the home stretch of Lent.
And Lent does "stretch" us,
doesn't it, and
uncomfortably so at that.
It's a matter of Metanoia,
a turn round right,
a return to Real,
a letting go wrong heartedness,
a letting The Spirit take hold and
steer us straight into the
Realm of Real
For most all of us,
really for all of us,
the hardest of
the hard parts of
Metanoia
of this
Rewew to Real
is to clear clean access
to our hearts
by forgiving ourselves
and others.
Difficult as it is,
Metanoia is only possible
if we forgive.
Delt dreadfully by another,
or sometimes by ourselves,
we are in pain for sure.
Just as surly we own it
from then on.
The effects may last,
but the event is over.
We need to be over it too.
We may need help, even therapy,
to deal with the aftereffects.
Yet fundamentally, soul-wise,
the only way foreword is
forgiveness.
It's rough, rock hard.
Yet, forgive we do.
That's because
the pain inflicted on us
contracts, blocks the
Love Flow
into and out of us.
We shut down, close off.
It's like our soul
having a heart attack.
It's just that dangerous.
So we seek and accept
the grace requisite
to open things up
for free flow -
to receive and give love.
Forgiveness
And that is what God does:
"Let all bitterness and wrath
and anger and clamor and slander
be put away from you,
along with malice.
Be kind to one another,
tender-hearted,
forgiving each other,
just as God in Christ
also has forgiven you."
Ephesians 4: 31-32
We do as Jesus did.
His last Lenten "stretch" was to be
physically and psychically
stretched to broken on the cross -
betrayed, abandoned,
horrendously tortured.
His response:
Forgiveness.
"Father, forgive them;
for they do not know
what they are doing."
Luke 23:34
His openness to forgiveness
meant the free flow of
redeeming love for us all.
Like minded, like hearted,
we turn to hurt in
FORGIVENESS
and its freeing.
For these last days of Lent some
points and prompts
follow below should you wish them.
Blessings on us all this
Lenten Stretch,
John Frank
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FORGIVENNESS
A LENTEN STRETCH
Metanoia means getting to
The Heart Of What Matters,
to get Righted Real:
- How much have I asked God
for the energy to address hurt,
to forgive and heal?
- What is it that another
has done to me, or that
I have done to myself, that
most blocks the free flow of
The Love That Is God in me?
- For how long have I denied,
delayed forgiveness?
- How does that present in my
attitude and behavior:
- strife
- quarrels
- grudges
- avoidance
- passive aggressive tactics
- jealousy
- attacks social, physical, occupational,
financial, political?
- sulking
- moodiness, depression
- Do I need help from a spiritual guide
to companion me to forgiveness?
Does this piece from Desmond Tutu
and his daughter, Mpho,
speak to our spirit?
"Forgiveness is the only way
to heal ourselves and
to be free from the past...
without forgiveness,
we remain tethered
to the person who harmed us.
We are bound to
the chains of bitterness,
tied together, trapped.
Until we can forgive
the person who harmed us,
that person will hold
the keys to our happiness,
that person will be our jailer.
When we forgive,
we take back control of
our own fate and our feelings.
We become our own liberator."
The Book of Forgiving
What light do these scriptures shine
on my need to forgive?
It's worth noting that there is no
tit for tat involved.
God can only forgive us
if we forgive others,
if we are opened up
to the free flow of forgiveness.
It is essentially, necessarily,
a two-way street.
We can only be forgiven
if we actually embrace
forgiveness in its fullness.
To buy in we may not hedge,
crop, or "adjust" our buy in.
It's all in or not at all in.
"For if you forgive others,
for their transgressions,
your heavenly Father
will also forgive you.
But if you do
not forgive others,
then your Father
will not forgive
your transgressions."
Matthew 6:14-15
"Bearing with one another,
and forgiving each other,
whoever has a complaint
against anyone;
just as the Lord forgave you,
so also should you."
Colossians 3:13
"Be on guard! If your brother sins,
rebuke him; and if he repents,
forgive him.
And if he sins against you
seven times a day,
and returns to you
seven times saying,
'I repent,' forgive him."
Luke 17:3-4
(To be a Chistian
sure does gets us
into a lot of love!!)
******
This week a very large group
from Brazil and our
first ever visitor from
Saudi Arabia
joined in with us all.
Thank you and all
new to our fellowship
here at
frankly speaking
spirituality for the street
johnfrankshares,blogspot.com
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******
May Holy Week be just that - a
"Whole-ing."
******
