Dear All of Us,
Well, here we are in
the home stretch of Lent.
And Lent sure is
a stretch isn't it,
a stretch
as in work out,
as in heavy lifting,
working out life's
UPS and DOWNS?
Let's have a go at that,
do a work out together
right here, right now.
A couple have
a lovely wedding.
Two days into
the honeymoon
one comes down
with the flu
in its full fury
for a fortnight.
You did really well in college,
landed a great job with
an up-and-coming company.
Your career and compensation
rode the company's crest.
Then the by out and you're out,
out on a limb with
two college ripe kids
and a hefty monthly mortgage.
The earth quakes and cracks.
Buildings crash down and
fifty thousand people
are crushed to death
in Turkey/Syria.
So why all the downs in life?
Can we ever get up
and stay up?
Put otherwise,
how cope with
screw ups that down,
with the deadening downers of
evil, pain and suffering?
Lent looks at that and
sees Jesus come at it
in all its unrealness,
with the pure power of
UTTER REALITY
God Being
God Energy
God Love
Jesus gets down and dirty
to
LOVE LIFT
from deadly downs.
He's still at it,
dying to evil,
rising to life.
And it's not a
one and done deal,
it's not a solo act either.
Jesus teams up with us
and counts on us.
Together we power through,
with nothing less than the
Utter Reality
of
Divine Love
that absorbs and transforms
the chaos of suffering and pain,
righting the wrong,
purifying the polluted,
uplifting the downed,
reviving the deadened.
Some of all this we understand.
Much of this we can't figure.
Some of it works through
right away.
Some of it takes longer
than our earth years
to work through.
A good friend turns out
to be neither.
We don't annihilate.
We wait
in pain and love.
We are in Soul Solidarity
with the people of Ukraine.
We feel, we hurt, not like them
but for and with them.
For Lent we don't
just give up a
convenience or comfort.
We give up in Jesus
all we can to uplift.
We give, give big time
and for real.
It could mean giving
a foster child
a home and family.
It could mean
having the church crank
over for dinner and cards.
It could mean noticing
the conflicted teen on the bus
and holding him in
heartfelt love and prayer.
It could mean
realizing and admitting that
what we publish as personality
is way different than
the inside and actual edition
we are so far.
We get some
soul care and help
with that.
It could and should mean
doing all we can,
where we are,
as we are,
for social justice
by living it
before we talk it.
It could mean challenging
established religion
to get real,
really simple
and simply spiritual.
Jesus didn't suffer,
die and rise.
Jesus
IS
suffering,
dying and rising
right here, right now
and he wants
company.
******
LENT LOOK
How about every day
for the next week
or more
we slowly, soulfully
ponder pray over
these scriptures?
We just take a phrase
or sentence at a time.
- What is the idea,
the insight, here?
- What is being revealed
through it?
- What does it mean for our
attitude and action?
- What are the implications for
our spiritual small group?
Do you not know that all of us
who have been baptized
into Christ Jesus were baptized
into his death?
Therefore we have been
buried with him by baptism
into his death, so that,
just as Christ was raised
from the dead
by the glory of the Father,
so we too might live
a new life.
Romans 6: 3-4
...I have been
crucified with Christ;
and it is no longer
I who live but
Christ who lives in me.
And the life I now live
in the flesh I live by faith
in the Son of God,
who loved me and
gave himself for me.
Galatians 2: 19b-20
...when you were buried
with him in baptism,
you were also raised
with him through faith
in the power of God
who raised him
from the dead.
Colossians 2: 12
If we have died with him,
we shall also live with him;
2 Timothy 2;11
I am now rejoicing
in my suffering
for your sake,
and in my flesh
I am completing
what is lacking
in Christ's affliction
for the sake of his body,
that is, the church.
Paul in Colossians 1:24
******
SPRING WELCOME
to one and all.
A special shout out
to the large group of
visitors this week
from Germany.
How good that
we all are in this
together.
frankly speaking
spirituality for the street
johnfrankshares.blogspot.com
BEST DELIVERY
Each Friday
Sigh Up
Top of online posting
PAST FIVE POSTINGS
Scroll below
the current posting
ONLINE POSTING
Each Wednesday
Before noon
East Coast USA time
Lent means heavy lifting
Up and Free
Together in the
Spirit Spa
Love to all
John Frank
******
