Wednesday, February 7, 2024

PAUSE


LENTEN RETREAT I


Dear All of Us,

  Let's Lent

      and 

 "Try this on 

      fo

  Soul Size."


Life is a dynamic

an alternation

a pulsation

a back and forth  

  Action- Pause

    We work

    We sleep

    We give

    We receive

When things  

are balanced, 

we are.

Such certainly 

spiritual life.


        Lent 

          a 

       Pause 

that gives needed 

spiritual balance.

It's like a team 

taking a time out

to further a win

        or 

  to find one.

      Lent

  "The pause

 that refreshes"

      Lent

   an annual

     Retreat

      to go 

     forward


   If that's a fit, 

we're all invited to

      Pause 

      Refresh

      Retreat

  together here 

in our weekly huddles

    during Lent


Our theme and approach

        come from 

        The Desert 

  Mothers and Fathers

Now, please don't reach for 

your water bottle and 

head for the doors.

Yes, they were 

long ago, 

far away and 

big time different

from us in our 

here and now.

They also knew

and modeled

a near perfect 

    Pause

They lived it  

in a mix up

much like our

right now

social/spiritual 

messiness 

    and 

 misorder.

They had  

to step out

to step up.

We do too.

Let's follow 

their good lead 

       and

retreat forward.


Richard Rohr maps it out for us. 

Speaking of the Desert Mothers and Fathers and their time he says:

"They were surely bona fide Christians and yet knew none of the 

doctrines which many of us today take as essential orthodoxy, such as 

the two natures of Christ, the doctrine of the Trinity, the inerrancy of the 

Bible, and on and on. This early period is a clearing house for 

                          essential Christianity." (1)

                    (emphasis mine and I hope ours))


Over time Christianity got complicated, compromised and corrupted. 

To go forward we really need to get back to basics -

                             Retreat Forward 

The Desert Mamas and Papas take us back to our future. 

They had the basics down cold out there in the hot desert. 

They didn't fuss. 

They focused. 

It was no frills, no fooling.

It was an essential experience of living Jesus the Christ.

It was Love Lived. 

It was Kingdom coming, 

It was wonder-full.

    

In our Now:

    Are we really and ready for that?

    In what kind of packaging have we received Christianity?

    What's core, and what's later conditioning and current container? 

    How taken and/or troubled are we with the condition and container of 

    current Christianity?

    How willing are we to make adjustments to live  

                   "essential Christianity"?

    Given the particulars of our life setting, how can the practical living of 

    the Gospel be the core and center of our daily, actual, living?

    Are we genuinely wrapped in with a for real Christian community?


    FOR PAUSE PONDER PRAYER

                     To 

          RETREAT FORWARD

We are invited to join in/gather together a small group, 

or covenant with a trusted Soul Friend.

If neither is possible, we fly solo.

We open wide to The Spirit.

We focus on 

"essential Christianity"

       What is it?

      We want to 

       "for real" 

     commit to it.

    We skinny dip 

in a sea of scripture.

We Spirit Soak in Matthew 

         especially      

      The Sermon 

      on the Mount

What/how is that to be lived

in our here and now?

         We use

     The Message

      translation

    (free online)

      

     We pray a lot,

     settle into scripture

     listen a lot, 

     speak some,

     support greatly.


SUGGESTION:

   We begin with Spirit Prayer and then silence. 

   We slowly read a portion of

   Mathew three times.

   We pause in silence for a few minutes 

   after each reading.

   We then share.

   We seek one focus per reading:

     (1) What is the core message here?

     (2) How can that be lived here and now?

     (3)  How can we help each other live it?


Let's do a practice run with 

        Matthrew 4:17

         After Jesus 

   went through his own

       Retreat Forward

        in those forty 

   desert days and nights

    he was out and about

          preaching.

    We do well to begin 

    where Jesus began with

    his inaugural theme:

      "Change your life. 

  God's kingdom is at hand."

Following the prompts above;

    (1) Jesus says we need to change how we live.

          That's a lot more than to stop sticking our bubble gum 

          on the underside of the pew when we go to church.

          Jesus is saying we need a life re-set.

          Do we hear it?

          Will we do it? 

          Jesus says God's Kin-Domain is here.

          Really!

          Do we hear that?

          Will we move in?

          Or are we on hold til heaven?

          Do we hear that God is ready for 

          a whole new way of life for us 

          and for world order?

          Or do we "theologize" and "spiritualize" it inert?


     (2) How do we put flesh on those bones?

          Are we really ready for "essential Christianity" and the major change of 

          mentality, values, lifestyle that it means for -

               the wheels we drive and the address where we park them? 

               our relationships with "The naughty and nice" in our orbit?

               betting the farm on Gospel not Empire values and ways?

               accepting profound divine intimacy?

               blending and bonding with others in sweaty/sweet community

               as The Gathered (L."eccelesia"), The Body of Christ?

               sticking our neck out for social justice and realizing we may get more 

               than a body chop for it?

       What are the top two things we need to do/undo to be for real in response?

     (3) Will we hang in there with others as they work out this changed, 

          Kin-Domain life even when it stretches every tolerance and supportive 

          muscle we have?

          What scares us about that?

          What could that look like?

          When we stumble fumble will we let others pick us up?

          What are the top concerns we face?

          What are a few approaches we are willing to try?


What do we say?

          Are we really ready/willing for a life reset?

          Or, will we settle for a little light dusting 

          of what is and how we are?


                                       "ALL IN" LENT

    Let's daily, lots, and from the heart, pray for each in our shared 

                                         PAUSE

                                         ******


       frankly speaking

   spirituality for the street

johnfrankshares.blogspot.com

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Thanks for the goodness 

of doing Lent together.

See you next week.

    Much love

    John Frank

       ******


OPPS! 

Almost forgot. 

Chaulk it up to me being 

on the shady side of 

eighty three

(1)  Daily Meditations, 

      Center for Action 

      and Contemplation, 

         May 4, 2015

            ******