Dear All of Us,
Seems like every grouping
has its pecking order.
There's the first and foremost
all the way down to
the last and the least,
the runt of the litter.
Even scripture seems so:
"And now
faith, hope and love
abide,
these three;
and the
greatest
of these is love."
1 Corinthians 13:13
Love and faith score big
in holy writ and rightly so.
Preaching too.
Hope looks like
a distant third, though.
But, let's take a closer look.
Let's slow down
to catch up with hope
because just now it is
THE QUESTION
Is there any hope
for us and our world?
"Our world today
is nothing
if not a swirling,
turbulent wind
tossing us around.
[Recently],
we have experienced
economic meltdown,
climate count down,
racial throwdown,
political breakdown,
technology slowdown,
and religious letdown." (1)
That's a hell of a lot of
DOWN
Are we doomed to
DOWN AND OUT?
Can there be
UP
AND
STAYING SO?
HOPE SO
Hope is a faithful emersion in love.
(Faith Hope Love)
Hope is not an abstraction
nor aspiration.
Hope is really, actually, trustingly,
vigorously, consistently, steadily
living that love emersion,
personally and collectively.
We live it practically real
in our current, overheated,
sweaty, swirling, unstable,
downing whirlwind.
Hope centers and stays
faith fully in love lived.
"God is love."
1 John 4:8
Neither Faith, Hope, or Love
are actually separate.
They are a lived trinity.
Love is the energy of what is - God
Faith is absorption in that energy - God
Hope is jumping in and staying
in that energy - God
So lets consider
cause and consequence.
"No problem can be solved
from the same consciousness
that created it."
Albert Einstein
For us individually and as a people
there is no hope in the consciousness
that got us where and as we are.
Consciousness is how
we catch on to existence,
what we think and feel,
how we see and evaluate,
and then put into play.
The consciousness
that set us up for down
is
Soul Shallow
It gets us as far as
tying our shoes
and fails to show us
what to do with them.
We stumble to our peril.
It results in the lived lies of
me-ism, consumerism,
governance that can't,
the military industrial complex
that President Eisenhower
warned against,
networks of deliberate untruths,
the economic seesaw that
positions few high up
at the price of multitudes minused
and bottomed out,
self serving selective nationalism
trumping "E Pluribus Unum",
(yes, that was on purpose!)
seeing everything
in one color - one's own,
countermanding nature's diversity
by dictating one-of-a-kind sexuality,
putting a choke hold on culture
and the truth telling of history,
banning books and arts
that show life a way
some don't want it to be,
abusive behavior towards,
earth, water, air,
religion of show and
little telling effect.
Hope comes with a radical
change of consciousness.
It amounts to hearing Jesus
again for the first time:
"Repent,
the kingdom
of heaven
is at hand"
Matthew 4:17
King James
"Change your
hearts and lives!
Here comes the
kingdom of heaven."
Matthew 4:17
Common English Bible
Jesus offers a radical reset
of mind and heart,
a new consciousness
for person and as a people,
one
SOUL DEEP
He invites us to live in
REALM REAL
so good it is God's,
The Kingdom of God.
New consciousness
New consequences
Life altering for person
and peoples.
Matthew reports out
The Good News
in chapters 5-7.
First is
deep in
Soul Sense
approaches to
real living,
attitudes on
how to "be"
right real,
eight of them,
The "Be" Attitudes.
Then rock real
translation of them
into
Realm Real
"Do" ing
Attitude to Action
dealing with
- anger,
retaliation,
charity giving,
prayer,
worry,
judging
The Gold Standard
for relationships
and much more -
swaths of aliveness
flowing from
God Good
Consciousness.
One way or the other
we will have consequences.
Which consciousness
do we live out?
So, we can cave to
hopelessness.
We can convert to
hopefulness
At issue is
the screaming need
for
SPIRITUAL RENEWAL
FOR REAL
SPIRITUALITY,
not
Cult Comfortable
Religiosity,
for
Radical Gospel Life
and
Lifestyle
Will we hear it?
Will we chance it?
Will we "repent"?
Will we pay the price?
Will churches do so?
Repent means
turn around,
a new consciousness,
a new manner of life,
one flow full of
HOPE
Actually Lived
Emersion
in the Love Energy
that is
God
Will we reading this
right here right now
change?
Will we reading this
right here right now
be part of a people of
changed
consciousness
attitude
action,
life
life style
HOPE SO
******
A Starter Kit
We pray for clarity and courage,
wisdom and willingness.
In time we unite with one or more
("Were two or three are gathered...")
in a committed and consistent
response to repentance and renewal,
to Kin-Domain life.
We meet regularly.
We pray together.
We listen and share
what we hear
as we open to
a new consciousness
and lifestyle.
We take time, lots of it,
with every nuance
of Good News in
Matthew 5-7,
The Sermon
On The Mount.
At core, at center,
What does it
really mean?
How is it lived
real and now and here?
We Soul Share and Support,
personally, practically -
our insights and lights,
our dark doubts,
our forwards,
our backwards.
Our views and lifestyle
will radically change.
We steady each other,
help each other
deal with that,
a profound, costly
turn around.
Together we dedicate to
one communal effort
for those beyond our group
- consistently and practically
helping a single parent
- working together at
Habitat For Humanity
-"adopting" a forgotten senior adult
- (fill in the space...........................
................................................
We steady each other as
we all realize the changes
of consciousness and
consequent life style
this will mean.
******
(1) Cameron Trimble quoted in
Richard Rohr's Daily Meditation,
May 5, 2023
******
NEW BOOK
SOUL BOOM
Why We Need A
Spiritual
Revolution
Rann Wilson
******
frankly speaking
spirituality for the street
johnfrankshares.blogspot.com
BEST DELIVERY
Each Friday
Sign Up
Top Right
Current Online Posting
LAST FIVE POSTINGS
Scroll down below
Current Posting
ONLINE POSTING
Each Wednesday Morning
East Coast USA Time
******
COSTA RICA
This week we had
our first ever over visit
over the six and a half years
of weekly postings
from
Costa Rica
Bienvenido
******
May we all
do more than
just read
this particular blog.
Sure
Hope So
Love to all,
John Frank
PS
Please join me in gratitude to God.
Fifty four years ago this morning
I was ordained.
******
To trust in them is folly and failure.
