frankly speaking: CLEARED FOR TAKEOFF

Dear All of Us,

So, how is it waking up?

Are we clear and

cleared for take off?

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

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

All Good

God

present

active

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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CLEARED FOR TAKEOFF