Dear All of Us,
Bless the Brits.
Such a dear people.
Magnificent cathedrals,
Shakespear to
passionate football.
Right about so much,
except driving on the
wrong side of the road
(just joshing)
Often understated.
Clipped and crisp
in expression:
"There, There,"
for comforting.
"Here Here!"
for affirmation.
Those two expression
applied variously,
bespeak for
the Brits and
all the rest of us,
how we are
are victims of
"There There"
overwhelming our
"Here Here."
People are in pain,
scared, depressed.
The media drops
all the world
out
THERE
on us in our
HERE
It is this an
incessant flood
of what's going on" there"
raining down on us "here."
It's a tsunami of
information, opinion,
persuasion, propaganda,
trivia, fact and falsification.
Our heads and hearts
are swamped.
We just don't know how
to float our boat in it all.
The media just now
is like a herd
young stallions,
unbroken,
powerful, promising,
sleek and fast,
difficult and dangerous.
The horse breeders
let them run uncontrolled.
They, too, are
wild and unregulated
as they rake in fortunes
letting loose this stampede
of worldwide there
all over us in our right here.
Two metaphors
for media too much.
It dehumanizes.
It debilitates.
It depresses.
Our spiritual lives
are stillness deprive,
souls and psyches
whipped wide wild.
We need to live the way
God fashioned us.
We do not and
we cannot live
all over the world,
and be responsive
to all that happens
THERE
We are located
and limited.
We thrive in our
HERE
We can even move
to another here,
but we need a here.
Let's really
see and say it -
we can't live or
cope with every there.
Everywhere is nowhere.
We do well to know
there are lots
of "here's" out
THERE
But we
need to heed
that we are
structured,
for living in our
HERE
our hometown,
in our version of
"Home, home
on the range,"
in our
"Home Sweet Home,"
in our homeland
at our address right
HERE
Otherwise,
things go wacky wrong.
And they have.
We do not need to know
that there was
a shooting and deaths
at a birthday party
there in Louisville
last week unless
Louisville is our here.
We are not structured
to hear and process
nonstop
"news and views"
about too much
from too many
about all sorts of
THERE
geographic
ideological
ethnic
religious
political
social
cultural
When blitzed
we cave in
or strike out.
Corporations,
politicians,
pundits,
propagandists,
advertisers,
join in causing
this cultural cascade
and its conflicts
- and discernably
not with
the highest of
motives.
Let's sharpen the pencil.
There are lots of
Here and There
in God's Good Creation:
great diversity
of location,
of manner and mode of life,
of culture and custom,
of political and spiritual persuasion.
There are lots
of right on real people,
of wrong and wronging people,
of principled conservatives
and liberals.
of hard-hearted,
block headed conservatives
and opiniated air head liberals.
Whether we accept it or not,
that's how it is.
We need to know that.
We do not need to know
all about all of that
all the time.
If we try we short out,
spin out.
All this in no way means
we are to bury our heads
in the sand and
bunker our hearts
in vaults of insensitive isolation.
We need to know and care
about our world oneness.
It gets debilitating when
our attention and
outlay of concern
are unfiltered,
obsessive and constant.
Our spiritual lives
suffer to stifle.
Overwhelmed by
what's going on
worldwide
and in every diverse
nook and cranny
and happening
of our nation,
we fail to be
resident and vigorous
in our right now and
HERE
and that is where
we locate to live
God Good Life.
Again,
everywhere is nowhere.
In the
wisdom and graciousness
of God
we are invited to
come alive
love
enliven
HERE
A new and necessary
spiritual discipline
is to refuse the addition
to distraction that is
Media Madness.
We have lots of good
to be and do.
It's diabolical to be
drawn off, distracted,
depressed,
psychically neutered
out of it, to be
missing in the action
right here and now.
Let's "Here it."
We bloom
where we are planted
and that is exactly right
"HERE HERE!"
******
POSTSCRIPT
This week's blog about HERE AND THERE, about Media Madness,
was completed Saturday afternoon, July 13, 2024.
Late that afternoon there was a horrendous shooting in Butler, PA
at a Trump For President Rally. A bystander was killed, two others were
critically wounded. The shooter was killed. Former President Tramp
was shot in the ear, an inch or so from a most likely death.
That tragedy THERE is something that we in our HERE
certainly need the media to report - factually, clearly, completely,
not incessantly, sensationally, nor politically.
We in our HERE cannot do much about the anger, vitriol and violence
in all the THERE'S of our nation and world
EXCEPT
in our HERE we can recommit to practical love of each other,
tolerance and acceptance of different people and persuasions,
and non-violent responses to hurt and frustration. Each of us is a cell
in The Body Politic across the THERE of our nation and world.
Each can make a difference for a peaceable whole.
We
HERE
hear and heed
Jesus
- " Those who draw the sword die by the sword."
Matthew 26:52
- "Peace I leave you, my peace I give you."
John 14:27
- "I say to you, love your enemies, bless them that curse you,
do good to them that hate you, and pray for them
that despitefully use you, and persecute you."
Matthew 5: 43-44
HERE HEAR
******
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Tuesday Evening
July 23, 2024
East Coast USA
Time
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Friday
July 26, 2024
GREETINGS AND WELCOME
to
ALL NEW
HERE
at
frankly speaking
spirituality for the street
johnfrankshares.blogspot.com
LAST FIVE POSTINGS
AVAILABLE
by
scrolling down
beneath this posting
God is Here and There.
God put us HERE.
YES!
Peace be with you.
Even better,
we get to be
peace.
God Bless
and
Tallyho!
John Frank
******
