SPARKPLUG

        

          THAT'S THE SPIRIT!

   When the Feast of Pentecost came,

   they were all together in one place.

   Without warning there was a sound 

   like a strong wind, gale force - 

   no one could tell where it came from. 

   It filled the whole building.

   Then, like a wildfire, the Holy Spirit 

   spread through their ranks, 

   and they started speaking 

   in a number of different languages

   as the Spirit prompted them.

            Acts 2:1-4

          The Message

             ******

      

       Dear All of Us,

It's been a few weeks since

     Pentecost Sunday

      How did it go? 

         Was it 

   Spirit Baptism?

     Did we get 

     All Fired Up

     Blown Away

     Speak Easy?

        Did we

   Hit The Streets

 Sharing The Spirit?

    Sound pretty 

       far out  

 even outrageous

"Not the done thing"?

Well, actually it was 

         and is

   "The done thing"

We are being done into 

         all of it. 

It starts with

      Water Baptism

That's initiation.

It grows up to

       Spirit Baptism

The first is like a new car

with a great set 

of sparkplugs.

The second is like

 those sparkplugs 

    firing away,

    accelerating 

    Goodness

    Godness

Sparking individuals 

       and 

congregations 

      into

           Spirit Sharing

           Mystical Union

           Lived Love

           Outpouring Self

           Community

           Care

           Reclamation

           Redeeming

           Extravagant Giving

           Pulsating Co-Creation

           Refreshing Service

Put another way,

   Spirit Baptism

        brings 

   Water Baptism 

       to a boil.

That first Pentecost 

was rather spectacular.

For most of us, though,

       Pentecost

happens over time in

series of simple sparks.

       The Spirit

at our center gradually

        presents

        frees

        fires

        intensifies

           brightens

        enlightens

        warms

        energizes

        invigorates

        gifts

        confirms

           strengthens

        encourages

        empowers

        It's God, 

our Center and Source,

        emerging

  in and through us.

     We "Get it"

     We "Give it"

There is a progression 

to it individually 

and as a community.

It surges through

our sensors,

our strengths,

our psyche, 

our very souls.

It is an ongoing,

outgoing intensity.

It manifests, 

warms, sparks

in endless ways 

    such as

  - smiling to folks 

    on the sidewalk

  - staying up all night 

    with a sick member 

    of the community

  - a simple life style 

    that allows for 

    generous financial sharing

    with the needy

  - volunteering our expertise

    at no cost

  - attentive listening 

  - wrapping the 

        left out 

        right into 

  our get togethers

  - cultivating cross-cultural 

    friendships

  - interfaith collaborations

  - forgiving and loving 

    the hurtful

  - real community buy in -

    church and neighborhood

  - willing to be counter cultural 

    by living Jesus' way and word

  - giving preference to 

    The Common Good

  - being flagrantly generous

  - saying only the good things 

    people need to hear

  - congregations freely sharing

    facilities and endowments

    of location, space, funds

    in response to local 

    and beyond needs

  - living the peace and justice

    we wish for the world

  - reverencing the earth 

    and atmosphere 

  - liberally giving of our 

    time and talents

    where needed

  - bearing one another's burdens

  - praying alone and with others

  - "spotting" caregivers - 

    taking a shift, 

    offering relief and refreshment

  - personally, collectively and practically

    living out The Sermon on the Mount

  - our actions and reactions

      Spirit Speaking 

    in many tongues,

    energizing tongues 

        as of fire.

The more we open and accept

the more we are

    Surprised By The Spirit

            Oh yes!

  "He will baptize you with

  the Holy Spirit and fire."

          Luke 3:16

         John Frank

           ******

Should you care to consider 

a bit more,

    

          PENTECOST 

       PONDER PRAYER

      The Fruits of the Spirit

      How do we experience 

      and express them?

  "But the fruit of the Spirit is

   love, joy, peace, patience, 

   kindness, goodness, faithfulness,

   gentleness, self control..."

       Galatians 5:22-23

   The Gifts of the Holy Spirit

 Here, too, how do we experience 

 and express them?

      "The spirit of wisdom 

       and understanding,

       The spirit of counsel 

       and strength,

      The spirit of knowledge

      and the fear of the Lord..."

           Isaiah 11:2

    

   An Inviting Prayer

Spirit of the living God, 

  fall afresh on me

Spirit of the living God,

   fall afresh on me.

Melt me, mold me, 

fill me, use me.

Spirit of the living God,

fall afresh on me.

   David Iverson

 Prayer to the Holy Spirit

O Great Spirit

whose breath gives life 

to the world,

and whose voice is heard 

in the soft breeze:

We need your strength 

and wisdom.

Cause us to walk in beauty. 

Give us eyes ever to behold 

the red and purple sunset.

Make us wise so that 

we may understand

what you have taught us.

Help us learn the lessons 

you have hidden

in every leaf and rock.

Make us always ready 

to come to you

with clean hands 

and steady eyes,

so when life fades, 

like the fading sunset,

our spirits may come to you 

without shame.

       Kiowa Prayer

 para. by Libby Littlechief

                 ******

A Spirit filled Welcome

    to our visitors.

Please do come and stay.

We meet weekly here at

       frankly speaking

    spirituality for the street

johnfrankshares.blogspot.com

 (click frankly speaking top left)

        

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             ******

      

        Oh so good!

    The Spirit of Good

         We get it.

         We give it.

        Together we

         Spark on!

          ******

     

     

    

     

  

 

     

 

           

           

     

GOD TALK

 Dear All of us,

Depending what time it is 

where we are just now, 

let's have a cup of coffee 

or a glass of wine together 

and do some God Talk - 

mellow musing.

Now, none do God Talk 

better than Jewish rabbis.

We do well to hear them, 

learn from them,

God Talk like them.

With scripture, spirituality, 

theology, nature,

religious/ascetical practice, 

all God Talk is uttered 

wonderfully wide:

        "It can means this, 

         but then on the other hand 

         it can mean that,

         and yet again it could mean

         quite other."

They honor that God is too vast 

to exhaust, even approximate,

in our understandings or words.

God Talk for them is 

a definitely limited, 

human expression about 

what the ancient Israelites 

referenced as

  The Utterly Other One.

God Talk at best is a glimpse

of one leaf in an endless forest.

In the Jewish tradition 

God Talk bespeaks 

their lived experience

of God's dealing with them.

It does not try 

to "grasp" God.

God Talk tells of 

living God's lead,

or failing to.

We do well to be very Jewish

in our efforts at God Talk.

To do that well we need also

to carefully note our context.

We think and talk in terms of 

a western culture.

As westerners we are 

cursed by blessing.

We are blessed with marvels 

of science, communications, 

technology, manufacturing

ever multiplying and tripping 

all over each other.

We are cursed and captive, 

though, to intellectual arrogance.

That endangers our God Talk. 

We westerners assume we can 

figure and fix existence.

In reality we can learn and modify 

to a limited, a very limited, extent.

That conditions, fudges, our God Talk.

We're like the child at the seashore 

working to fill their hole in the sand 

with the ocean.

Given that folly, we attempt 

to parse, analyze, dissect God.

It throws us into 

an idolatry of definition,

one that misstates God and

misguides our spiritual lives.

Valid, enlightening, inviting, 

clarifying, encouraging 

       God Talk

    flows from the

        Union

      Oneness  

of Jesus and the Father, 

of Jesus and us.

It tells of experiencing God

as revealed and shared by Jesus.

   "The Father and I are one...

    the Father is in Me and 

    I am in the Father."

       John 10:30&38

  "Whoever looks at me 

   is looking in fact, at 

   the One who sent me...

   What the Father told me 

   I tell you."

        John 12:45&50

         The Message

          translation

When we look at what Jesus does 

and listen to what Jesus says, well,

now we're really talking God.

Jesus embodies, personifies, 

       bespeaks God 

in a thoroughly human way.

He says God.

He acts God.

He shows God.

He reveals God.

He shares God.

He gives us what 

God wants us 

to have about God.

It is not at all exhaustive.

Way better, it's invitational,

a vigorous welcome to

an inexhaustive love affair -

           Union

         Oneness

It reveals God's love 

for us and all creation.

Jesus invites us into 

       living God.

   "I am the way, 

    the truth and the life. 

    No one comes

    to the Father 

    except through me."

        John 14:6

Slow, receptive reflection 

on the Gospels reveals 

the words and way of Jesus.

They talk God for us.

Jesus is God's Lexicon.

May he be the source book 

for our God Talk.

After all, Jesus is

The Word of God.

All this flips the enterprise.

         God Talk 

         is good.

     Jesus Listening 

        is divine.

Thanks for the chance 

to mellow muse together.

        John Frank

         ******

Regularly and happily 

new folks stop by here 

each week.

Please know you 

are welcome 

and we are blessed.

          ******

  Please consider sharing 

      frankly speaking

spirituality for the street

johnfrankshares.blogspot.com

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           ******

Good talking God together..

    See you next week 

           ******

          

So lets have a refill

and be like the rabbis 

as we God Talk -

all God Talk is uttered

wonderfully wide.

Jesus is The Word of God

we hear, speak and live.

.

In some ways our God talk actually limits God , our relationahip.

Need to be careful here.

       

HOLY HO HUM

Dear All of Us,

This is going to be

like trying to sell 

shoes to a cobbler,

parsnips to a farmer.

  "Enough already!"

   "Who needs it!"

    "No thanks!"

 

Trusting your trust

and largeness of spirit

gives me the whatever

to give it a go.

That will actually be a

stop and stay.

So, let's check out

the spirituality of 

  HOLY HO HUM

Not exactly 

a people pleaser

at first flash.

Yet it is so central

to a genuine spirituality.

We miss it to our soul's loss.

It's where we are most and 

where God is most and 

we can overlook both and 

our union in the blitz of

restless seeking

for more and better,

for ever greater spiritual pop.

In more than many ways 

our hyped-up, super stimulated,

restless, 24/7,

agitated/agitating, 

dreadfully distracted

throbbing, loud, 

fast paced, super-sized,

high speed, digital dashing,

Facebook flipping, 

frenetic lifestyles,

are attempts to escape

anything a hundred miles 

from the border of

     HO HUM,

holy or any other wise.

We get going so fast 

we see and sense 

little located 

so wondrously 

in the land of

   HO HUM

 the ordinary

 the everyday

We skim the surface  

and miss the substance.

We've been talked into an

"always faster/fuller" everything -

Instagram and 

Insta - everything else,

pushing ahead and beyond 

for what's in fact

already right where we are.

Yet we're not there long enough 

to mellow and mature 

in the mystery in our midst.

We miss the goal for the chase.

Our addiction to 

speed seeking distractions,

highs holy or otherwise, 

is a narcotic that numbs us 

to our here and now,

to our habitat of meaning,

nurture, depth and expansion.

The door to the Ultimate

opens in the immediate.

We notice, sense, see

and experience God

present in all that is,

truly it is

   The Presence of God.

        We notice 

      Open Souled

  and with all five senses,

   intellect and intuition,

every gift, grace and talent.

         We notice 

where and how we are 

how it is here - the

people, place, plants, 

activity, beauty, 

sounds and sights - 

the panorama 

of here and now,

the ground of actuality.

Our day-to-day world 

is a Universe Sacred.

The secret is to sink deep 

into the immediacies of work,

routine, relationships, reflections, 

to feel the textures of time,

see gently deep,

hear the full range,

slowly savor the tastes,

be surprised by 

the extraordinary tucked into 

a pastrami sandwich,

a nod and smile on the street,

a hymn at church,

a new responsibility at work,

a Ken Burns documentary,

a hot shower,

a people watching on the beach,

a Summer Garden,

a computer connecting wide and far,

a problem solved,

an injustice righted.

  We slow to full.

Work, family, friends,

spiritual community, 

recreation, shopping,

recycling, driving, 

napping, listening to music,

reading, writing a friend,

coaching kids, paying bills,

visiting, going to the doctor,

mowing the lawn, 

doing the dishes -

more, indeed all,

are the places, the ways,

to start heavenward

and its joy.

Hafiz unfolds the wonders of 

       HOLY HO HUM

the joy of the day's dance:

      

    Created for Joy

  I sometimes forget

  that I was created for Joy.

  My mind is too busy

  My heart is too heavy

  for me to remember

  that I have been

  called to dance

  the Sacred dance of life.

 I was created to smile

 To Love

 To be lifted up

 And to lift others up.

         O Sacred One

         Untangle my feet

         from all that ensnares.

         Free my soul. 

         That we might

         Dance

         and that our dancing

         might be contagious.

                   Hafiz

  All that in the land of

     HOLY HO HUM

A God-Good place to be 

and to here together.

       John Frank

         ******

It's a wonder gift to have visitors 

join in with us. This past week  

there was a significant number

from the USA new to 

our gathering here in

       The Spirit 

      WELCOME

   each and all to

        frankly speaking

   spirituality for the street

johnfrankshares.blogspot.com

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          ******

How wise of liturgical churches 

        to celebrate

     ORDINARY TIME

     HOLY HO HUM

    Thanks again for

    the good company.

   See you next week

          *****

running around 

CLEARED FOR TAKEOFF

Dear All of Us,

So, how is it waking up?

Are we clear and 

cleared for take off?

          or

are we hanging out

in the hanger -

flight delayed?

Waking up, taking off,

are more than 

morning matters.

There're what matters 

in all of life.

Are we socked in sleep

or wide-eyed awake?

Are we grounded or in flight?

Are we zonked or zooming?

Just how conscious are we,

conscious of call,

aware, awake to life?

To push the metaphor,

our flight has been called.

Are we on board?

Are we earth bound or 

Cleared For Takeoff?

Some folks 

assume they're

"Go get'em" awake"

fully conscious,

in full flight

when in truth they are 

drugged unconscious,

      grounded,

sleep stalled still 

by frenetic activity and

compulsive acquisition -

   - surface speed -

   a skimming stop.

Some of them even 

buzz around at church.

One way and many, 

the saints and mystics 

all focus on just that:

          focus

       awareness

         awake 

        to what 

           is

         as is

     right here

     right now

a "presence-ing" of God - 

every speck of matter, 

every pulse of energy,

every activity, 

every encounter

   all that is is 

        All 

in the particular 

     of this.

  

   Jacob awakened 

   out of his sleep,

   and he said,

   "Surely the Lord 

   is in this place and 

   I didn't know it.

    Genesis 28;18 

   

God is the basis, 

the basic energy

the basic Being,

The All of all that is.

   

    Be up and awake 

    to what God is doing.

      Romans 13:13

       The Message

Our spiritual life 

is being awake 

and mixing it up 

with God present

in the right in front of us,

the all around us.

There and from there we

take off for the heights,

mystical Oneness.

We slow, awaken 

to sense God in: 

         a song

         an inspiration

         a peanut butter sandwich

         a shower

         a flower

         a tool

         a garment

         a bus ride

         a computer

         a novel

         a painting

         a garden patch

         a mountain range

         a bed

         a ball game

         a shrine

         a laboratory

         a slum

         a homeless person

         a grocery store

         a spiritual community

         a work place

         a marginalized person

         a bodily function

         a social justice/environmental effort

         a physics class

         a loved one

         a not so loved one

         a library

         a worship experience

         a beer with friends

         a class of wine 

            (if one's an uptown sort)

          and multiples of many such

          everybody, everywhere,

                 everything.

That's the contemplative life.

Notice, focus, right where 

we are and let God Good

take it from there.

Just be awake to it,

Cleared for Takeoff.

              Love has come 

              to rule and transform.

              Stay awake, my heart, 

              stay awake.               

                                Rumi

OK, so what about the stinkers in our life,

the ugly, the uncouth, the mean and nasty,

the hurtful, like abusers, war mongers,

the violent be it physical, social, psychic?

What about gun massacres, 

corporate and political raid and rape?

What about the Xi's and Putin's 

around the globe

dominating and destructing?

What about a Ukrainian family 

in the middle of an aerial attack?

What about news media that makes

the Yellow Journalism of yore

read like a Sunday School text?

What about the politicos 

and pretend patriots 

subverting clean elections?

What about an 

ex president creating 

the chaos needed for a

possible fascist take over,

ranting about The Big Lie 

while creating, embodying 

and articulating

the actual one -

flipping the facts 

to fool and foul the public?  

There are horribly many people

and projects that twist and abuse

the energy, the goodness of God

in hideous forms and actions.

That's what evil is.

It's God Good made God Awful

by people, not by God.

Somehow, 

for all the hardship of it,

we need to connect with 

the God at the center 

of all that,

God Good so abuse,

and then work for reclamation, 

restoration of right.

That's what 

     Love your enemies, 

     do good to those 

     who persecute you

is all about. 

Look at Jesus, 

     Father forgive them 

     for they know not 

     what they do

Jesus suffered through evil

with divine love,

brought real, right, 

God Good to it,

overcame it, 

transformed it,

rose above it and free.

Now it's our turn 

AND IT AIN'T EASY!!

      IN JESUS 

IT IS MORE THAN 

     POSSIBLE. 

Our spiritual life out here 

on the streets of how it is

awakens us to God Good

as the basis, the bedrock,

the actuality and energy, the 

           GRACE

underneath and through all,

present in all.

God is not just out there.

God is here.

God showed up 

way before we got here.

The here and now are 

the portals to 

limitless life and Goodness.

In and through their immediacy

we experience and 

are transported upward into 

the mystical, the Total Good 

           - God -

So, holding a beautiful baby or

dealing with white supremacists,

we are in the presence of God

if we awake clear to it.

Sometimes easy and pleasant.

Sometimes painful and hard.

It's always place and point of

          TAKEOFF

        "Good Morning.

  Please fasten your seatbelts.

             We're 

   CLEARED FOR TAKEOFF."

            Let's go!

With all of us all the way,

           John Frank

          ******

For those who need 

to move along, thanks 

for your good company. 

See you next week!,

If you wish to focus

a bit more on awakening 

to the immediacy of God,

hopefully what follows 

will be prompts 

for reflection and prayer

over the next while.

    PONDER PRAYER

The people of Thailand 

have a marvelous mantra:

       Life is short. 

       Slow down.

The faster we go 

the more we miss.

We slow 

to notice,

to absorb,

to be absorbed,

to sense,

to connect,

to embrace,

to be embraced

       by 

   All Good

     God

   present 

    active 

      in

the people,

the places,

the happenings of

creation aborning

all about.

We awake to sore.

So much of our spiritual lives

are simply a matter of accepting

the gift to be conscious of

         GOD GOOD

Soul Siblings

now speak us slowed

to see and sense.

To hear them,

we find a still place 

outside and inside us.

We gentle in.

We breath deeply

in body,

in spirit.

No rush.

Pause to sense

and ponder.

We let the 

wisdom shared

say itself,

speaking 

levels and tones 

  of meaning.

We calmly bring that 

to the practicalities

  of our living.

We cloth insight 

with practice. 

        

       SOUL SAYS

What is this precious love 

and laughter building 

in our hearts? 

It is the glorious sound 

of a soul waking up. 

       Hafiz

Sleeper, awake! 

Rise from the dead,

and Christ will shine 

      on you.

 Ephesians 5:14

To be awake 

is to be alive. 

  Thoreau

Once you are alive 

it's hard to go 

back to sleep. 

 Anonymous

Our truest life is 

when we are 

in dreams awake. 

 Leslie A. Fiedler

   Awake, arise, 

       or be 

   forever fallen.

   John Milton

Be up and awake 

to what God is doing.

  Romans 13:12

   The Message

Spiritual awakening 

is awakening from 

the dream of thought.

    Eckhart Tolle

Those who are awake 

live in a state of 

constant amazement.

   Jack Kornfield

The best dreams happen 

when you are awake.

       Unknown

Spiritual awakening 

is becoming awake 

to the aliveness 

of this moment. 

  Tolle Eckhart

You sleep to see 

your dreams.

I stay awake 

to live mine.

Asha Sangwan

   A Reflection Prayer

It does not have to be

Forever,

Right Now.

One step upon 

the Sky's soft skirt

Would be enough.

Hafiz, Awake awhile

Just one True moment 

       of Love

Will last for days.

Rest all your 

elaborate plans and tactics

for knowing Him,

For they are all just  

frozen spring buds

Far.

So far from 

Summer's Divine Gold.  

Awake, my dear.

Be kind to 

your sleeping heart.

Take it out into 

the vast fields of Light

And let it breath.

        Say

"Love, Give me back 

     my wings,

      Lift me,

 Lift me nearer."

 Say to the sun 

 and the moon,

Say to our dear Friend, 

"I will take You up now, 

        Beloved,

On that wonderful Dance 

    You promised!"

         Hafiz

       ******

      A Bright Spring Welcome

      to our visitors. This week 

      we had our first visitor 

      from Malta. Welcome 

      one and all here at

        frankly speaking 

   spirituality for the street

johnfrankshares.blogapot.com

       (click top left)

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Please invite others 

to join in with us.

My heart is happy, 

but my eyes are blurry,

my head heavy.

So, see you soon! I'm

 Cleared for Takeoff

 to Nap Land.

 I'm going 

 to meet God

 right there!!

    ******