LENTENN RETREAT VIII
Dear All of Us,
Two days ago
my daughter called.
Work had been a heavy lift
and she was down.
Yesterday she called again.
Work took off, soared,
and she was up.
She wanted to report the uplift.
There's plenty much
of both for us all.
We live our spiritual lives
"both-ed"
There's the heavy lifts
of things like
really growing up,
getting up from a letdown,
struggling with a put down,
overcoming opposition
and rejection,
suffering injury/illness,
digging out from depression,
pulling free of addiction to
gossip, media mania,
overworking,...
getting an education,
career start up,
getting Soul Real,
springing free from an affair -
one in fact or in fantasy,
striving for justice,
the drag of the day job,
outs with the in-laws,
a rocky stretch in marriage,
and ...and... and...
It's a long list of lifts heavy.
That list isn't the last word,
much less the last page,
of our life journal.
Longer the list of uplift from
finding a life friend/mate
graduating,
meaningful work,
maturing spiritually,
writing this blog for you
and you kind enough
to take time with it,
a week on The Outer Banks,
reconciliation -
finances to family rift,
finding a for-real
church community,
a Bocelli concert this month
and The Boss next month,
cold water break
while bailing hay,
shrimp scampi,
a sunset beach walk,
loads and lots of life lifts.
Our life, with its
ups and downs,
is a lot like an elevator,
or as The Brits have it, a
Lift
At times,
it doesn't lift us at all.
It's such a heavy lift that
it drops us in
the deepest, darkest
of depths.
We suffer it.
Life elevates to
height and light.
The sky isn't the limit.
There is none.
That's because
The Life Source
took on the dark downs,
suffered them,
mixed in the mess,
Love Lifted Life
Up, Free, Light Bright
All this is what
Augustine called
The Pascal Mystery
the death and resurrection
of
Jesus The Christ
His life outpouring is filling
the void that is evil,
enlivening the deadened,
lifting up, freeing all creation
from every dreadful down.
In a cosmic way and fullness
it did, does and will do
for all what
the outpouring
of the paschal lamb
did to mark the way to freedom
and new life for the Israelites -
up from their downed,
dreadful slavery.
For us all this gets
personal, social
and right now.
We're all in on it.
The Paschal Mystery
was a then, is a now
and a will be:
"Or do you not know
that all of us
who have been baptized
into Christ Jesus
have been baptized
into His death?
Therefore
we have been buried
with Him through baptism
into death, so that as Christ
was raised from the dead
through the glory of the Father,
so we too might walk
in newness of life."
Romans:3-4
The Up
Lift
It's a personal
right now
and future:
"I live now not I
but Christ lives in me."
Galatians 2:20
In us Christ struggles with
all the deadly
hard heavy lifts in life.
It's messy, sweaty,
bloody, painful.
So much for selective, comfy,
casual, cafeteria Christianity.
In us Christ breaks free
from all that deadens,
all that holds down,
uplifts
fresh and full
"in newness of life"
Death and Resurrection
Then/Now/
Progressing
Jesus/Us
"Essential Christianity"
So, how in our now
are we
each personally
and
all as a people
dying and rising
in Christ?
As it is, so it is.
That's how it is
with our spiritual lives
right now.
HELPS
List the heavy lifts.
List the uplifts.
Pray in naked honesty.
Journal candidly.
Share openly with
a Soul Friend.
Consider, confer freely
within our
spiritual community
Open Souled
We meet Christ
where we are
Christ takes us
where he is
Trust Accept Recommit
LIFT HIGH THE CROSS
CHRIST THE LORD
IS RISEN TODAY
Now that's
an all the way up
LIFT
******
Next Edition
Online: Wednesday
April 3, 2024
Email: Friday
April 5, 2024
NEXT WEEK
Our regular weekly blog
and a
Special Edition
entitled
ELDERCHRIST
******
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and
Tanzania
joined us.
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spirituality for the street
johnfrankshares.blogspot.com
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******
Blessings this week of
heaviest lifts
and
DIVINE UPLIFT
Love to all,
John Frank
******
