HAPPENS

  Dear All of Us,

      In the 

high octane days

     of youth 

I was a counselor 

        at a 

summer day camp.

     Loved it!

Had twenty-five 

six-year-old boys.

Yah, every night

went home

really happy 

and darn tired.

The biggest hit 

and challenge 

of the day

was swimming.

Everybody loved it.

It meant a

school bus ride out

to McDonald's Beach

       -  Speaking of McDonald,

          this was 

          so long ago that 

          Ronald Mc Donald 

          hadn't even been 

          invented yet!!

The kids had a ball, 

worked off incredible 

amounts of energy 

and so did I 

flipping them

in the water and 

letting them dive 

off my shoulders,

submarine dives

with them 

on my back.

      And then!!

        It was 

locker room mayhem 

getting them changed 

and packed up for

the trip back to town.

All these centuries later 

I can still hear 

the perplexed plea

from somewhere 

in the locker room,

      "Mr. J, 

   I can't find 

my underpants!"

And often 

neither could I 

find them for 

little Bobby 

or little Charlie 

the next time

it happened.

Never figured 

that one out.

Thank goodness

the parents were 

understanding. 

And they were

really generous

and considerate 

letting me know when 

some of the boys 

arrived home

with their 

underpants on 

inside out,

back in front,

or both!

So, what's 

so spiritual about 

The Saga of the 

  Underpants,

right side out, 

or not quite,

or not at all?

Well, you just let 

an old man do 

what we like to do -

tell stories.

So grace full 

of you for me!

Thank You

There's much more.

The story 

reflects that

little graces  

are actually 

big graces: 

- a teen counselor 

  stretch's for

  little kids,

  a start-up step 

  for him

  toward future

  fathering

- He meets God in 

  God's favored 

  little ones

  ("...the kingdom 

  of heaven belongs 

  to such as these.."

  Matthew 19:14)

- the little ones 

  experience 

  a touch of 

  God fathering 

  them in him

- For both it was

     a playful

Holy Communion

          in 

     God Love, 

     vigorous, 

  truly soul full

- it tells the tale that 

  HOLINESS HAPPENS

    WHERE WE DO

        

       All this 

    HAPPENED  

          at

McDonald's Beach, 

     Wayne, NJ

  

 Ronald McDonald 

 debuted in 1963.

  

The above 

took place in 1956.

 

 The boys were six.

  Today they are 

  actually more than

  eligible for 

  Social Security!!!

  

  I thank God for them.

  I thank God for you.

  I thank God for 

  little graces 

  that actually are

  big graces.

  I thank God

  We're all 

  happening.

       

   "Not all of us

    can do 

    great things. 

    But we can do 

    small things 

    with great love."

    Mother Teresa

       

    "God is love"

     1 John 4:8

   That's how God

      HAPPENS

       ******

     

    WELCOME

       to this

 Holy Communion

      ******

    A SPECIAL

   HIGH FIVE 

   for our 

   first ever

   participation 

   from 

   Palestine.

   So glad to be 

   together here.

   Heartfelt prayer 

   for you, 

   your people 

   and land.

 

ONLINE POSTING

Thursday afternoons

  (often mornings)

East Coast USA time

      ******

       PLEASE

  continue to let 

  frankly speaking 

      happen 

  where you are 

   by sharing it 

   with others.

     Thanks

     ******

PREVIOUS POSTINGS

       Available

          by

   scrolling down

      beneath 

    this posting

          ******

  Great to be together.

  See you next week.

      Love to all.

      God Bless.

      John Frank

       ******

         frankly speaking

    spirituality for the street

johnfrankshares.blogspot.com

            ******

  

  

WELL SUITED

Dear All of Us,

Guess what?

Which really means

I want to share

something special.

My dear wife

just bought me a

great winter jacket.

It's comfy quilted for

warmth and protection.

To boot, it's Blue -

my favorite color.

What a gift.

And hey, 

it's not even 

Christmas 

    and 

my birthday 

      is

five months 

    away.

Speaking of dates,

being eighty-five

and being gifted

with a new jacket

is definitely a 

vote of confidence in

my earthly durability!!

It gets better.

The tags 

on the jacket

are just so right,

so surprisingly

Scripture Like and Clear;

   * OMNI-SHEILD

      completely protected

   * COUPE DYNAMIQUE

      energy styled

   * ACTIVE FIT

      go suited

Can't wait to 

live into all that. 

And guess what?

Which again 

really means 

I want to share 

something special

with us all. 

          Our

     Spiritual Life

is living into all such,

        into our 

    God Grace Gift,

getting all wrapped up 

           in it:

   

     * OMNI-SHIELD

       completely protected

    

      "Put on the full armor of God 

       so that you can take your stand 

       against the devil's schemes...

       against the rulers, 

       against the authorities, 

       against the powers 

       of this dark world..."

       More than timely!

       See the full line of 

       protective gear 

       catalogued in 

       Ephesians 6:10-17 

   

    * COUPE DYNAMIQUE

       energy styled

    

     "And then take on 

      an entirely new 

      way of life - 

      a God fashioned life, 

      a life renewed 

      from the inside and

      working itself into 

      your conduct as God 

      accurately reproduces 

      his character in you."

       Ephesians 4:24

       The Message

  That's power dressing.

It cuts a marvelous figure.

  * ACTIVE FIT

     go suited

 

   "...cloth 

   yourselves with 

   compassion,

   kindness,

   humility,

   gentleness,

      and

   patience.

   Bear with 

   each other 

      and

    forgive 

   whatever 

   grievance

 you may have 

    against 

 one another.

Forgive as the 

Lord forgave you. 

   And over 

all these virtues 

     put on 

      love, 

which binds them

   altogether 

in perfect unity."

 Colossians 3:12-14

   A perfect fit.

   Outfitted well.

   Good to go.

   Active Fit.

        We are

  Dressed not to kill.

        We are

   Dressed to live.

       We are

 Dressed to enliven. 

       We are

 So dearly, lovingly,

        Godly

    WELL SUITED

       ******

 To go deeper and fuller

       please see

  PRAYER PRACTICAL

   CONSIDERATION

    A SUGGESTION

           below

     at the very end 

     of this posting.

   An Autumn Rich 

       WELCOME

          to all

 A special wink to the

 the significant group

         from

       CHINA

  that has recently

  joined in with us.

ONLINE POSTING

Thursday afternoons

 (often mornings)

East Coast USA time

LAST FIVE POSTINGS

     AVAILABLE

              by

   scrolling down

      beneath 

    this posting

    Much Thanks 

to the many sharing

  frankly speaking

         with

        others

        Be well.

 See you next week.

      Love to all.

      God Bless,

      John Frank

PS

Instead of 

suiting ourselves

let's let God

do it.

       frankly speaking

   spirituality for the street

johnfrankshaes.blogspot.com

              ******

FOR PRAYER PRACTICAL

    CONSIDERATION

    A SUGGESTION

Over time

we reconsider 

the above,

slowly, soulfully.

We pray forward 

practical applications.

We dig deep 

and reach high,

moving from idea 

      to lived 

    expression 

       and 

    experience

      Prayerfully 

       we take 

       threads 

       from the 

   scriptures above

          and 

     weave them

       practical

          into

          AN  

     ACTIVE FIT

   A few starters: 

     EPHSIANS 6 

   Armor of God 

- "the belt of truth" 

        vs. 14

   What media sources

   influence/condition us?

   How Gospel Compatible

   are they and thus us?

      EPHISIANS 4

"And take on an entirely 

 new way of life, 

 a God fashioned life"

          vs.23

 How ready are we to

 pattern our living on

     The Sermon 

    On The Mount

     attitudinally 

         and 

      actually,

not platitudinally 

   but flat out 

  and practical, 

      to be

   Active Fit

     How about

"No one can serve 

   two masters"?

 (Matthew 6:24)

How much mastery

        does

    "affluensa"

   - gotta have 

 way beyond need -

          or 

     the needs 

     of the poor,

fashion our lifestyle?

      We check 

   our checkbook

         and

     our closet

     our address,

     our garage,

     our recreations,

     our vacations.

     

Colossians 3:12- 15

" ...cloth yourselves 

  with compassion..."

         vs.12

    How much real, 

       deeply felt,

        practical 

      compassion 

      do we have 

        for those

conservatives/liberals

diametrically different 

      than we are?

Can we move beyond

        ideology 

          and 

   embrace them

    in kindness

       vs 12

    (kin-ness)?

      Can we 

  have them over 

    for dinner?

        Can 

    God's Love  

     bond bind 

         us

      in unity

       vs 12

    deeper than 

    difference?

     ******

 

      

    

SEEN

Dear All of Us,

It was one of those 

unexpected,

long remembered,

telling moments.

Meeting up one day 

with my friend, I said,

"Joe, it's good to see you."

With a warm, knowing smile 

he responded,

"It's good to be seen."

There's a mountain 

of meaning 

to be mined there.

Zaccheus found that out. (1)

Because of the crowd 

he had climbed a tree 

so he could see Jesus.

They saw each other 

and was it ever 

GOOD TO BE SEEN

Jesus invited himself 

over for dinner.

The locals dised it

     snickering,

"He eats with sinners."

As a matter of saving fact, 

     "You Betcha!"

Zaccheaus was in finance 

and wealthy.

He cooked the books 

to get that way.

He was corrupt covered.

At dinner,

before the 

hors d'oeuvres

were even

 finished, 

Zaccheaus

was a freed, 

refreshed man.

He had been 

     SEEN 

all the way in 

       by

     Jesus.

It was piercing,

purifying love.

Jesus saw past 

the sin slips,

corrupt crust,

voids and inner turmoil,

all the way to Zaccheaus' 

deepest self and soul.

In that brightness 

Zaccheus saw himself 

and everything else

        clear, 

        clean, 

        good,

  God Centered.

IT"S GOOD TO BE SEEN 

    really and deeply.

These days a lot of folks 

can't see eye to eye on

fundamental, foundational

values and practices. 

As a tragic result 

they are more than 

in each other's face.

They face off in 

devastating cultural, 

social, physical conflicts.

They just 

can't see things

another's way, 

much less even 

see the other.

It's morally obscene.

It collapses the floor 

of societal cohesion.

That is because

in many of 

our countries

there are these 

vastly different

REALITY TAKES

   and their

  consequent 

  LIFE WAYS

I venture to say 

many people 

will never see 

eye to eye

on them.

We need to honestly 

see that and then

keep looking until

we see past them 

to the deepest 

of the others' 

     SOUL SELVES

     GOD CENTER

          There

      we see that 

 our centers are one,

          GOD

From that foundation 

we can love each other,

making room 

for each other 

to live out 

markedly varied

social, political, religious

cultures and life ways.

We can find ways

to reorder in

tolerance, 

respect and peace.

Because vast groups 

see no good,

no God,

in each other 

they do not actually

see each other

or themselves. 

We need to have Jesus over

for dinner and a good look!

                  ******

(1) Luke 19:1-10

WELLCOME ALL

ONLINE POSTING

Thursday afternoons

(frequently mornings)

East Coast USA time

LAST FIVE POSTINGS

      AVAILABLE

           by

   scrolling down

        below 

     this posting

It's so good of so many

      who share 

  frankly speaking

    with others

         Thanks!

All the best.

looking forward to 

us all being 

together here 

again next week.

Love to all.

God Bless

John Frank

        frankly speaking

   spirituality for the street

johnfrankshares.blogspot.com

  

        

 

 

 

FEAR NOT

    Dear All of Us,

     Here in the 

         USA 

       and in

  sadly many much

  peoples and places

     worldwide,

       today's 

       "as is" 

          is 

     too much

   for too many:

economic 

uncertainty,

polarized 

poisoned 

politics, 

a Demolition Derby 

of democracy,

the rule of law

ruled out, 

riots,

genocides,

wars and famines,

mass shootings,

authoritarianism,

dictators,

rude, crude behaviors,

scapegoating immigrants,

workers displaced by AI, 

robots with union cards

(so to chatbot),

traditional morals trashed,

religions not knowing 

what to do and

surely not doing it,

truth twisted 

unreal and unreliable,

abused atmosphere and

earth retching dangerous,

justice not equal 

       at all

       for all 

       if at all 

         

In reaction 

people feel 

thrown under 

the bus.

They slide 

into depression,

twitch in anxiety,

curl up in cocoons 

of worry, anger,

dread, denial.

Others spin 

their wheels in

frenetic activity, 

tilting at windmills

in bothered dithering.

Some do the opposite, 

becoming inert 

and uninvolved.

Underneath it all is

disturbing, disabling

dark, dangerous 

       FEAR

     ENTER

With a distinctive 

New York accent,

yarmulke askew, 

here comes 

Jewish Jesus 

saying to our 

fear fraught world,

"Not to worry already".

With all due respect 

we want to say 

(shout?) back,

"So, Jesus, please take

 another look already!"

A bit more formally, 

Jesus responds,

   "FEAR NOT"

as he did about 

forty-four times 

in the Gospels.

  Say what?

Well, Jesus is 

not denying

that there are 

monumental 

hurdles and hurts,

cavernous, consuming

sinkholes in life.

Concern and action

 clearly called for

     and that

     for sure

       but

      fear

       in 

 facing them,

  NO WAY!

Fear is wasted psychic 

and spiritual energy.

Fear achieves 

nothing good and 

damages deeply. 

It eats up all 

the attention 

and effort 

needed for 

right now, 

right here,

real life 

in the 

midst of 

worldwide, 

chaotic, 

unrealness.

On top of that

fear syphons off

the energy needed

to counter 

those terribly 

concerning

hurdles, hurts, 

and sinkholes.

We may have 

tons of troubles,

suffer terrible 

conditions, 

but not an

ounce of those

tons of troubles 

    is us.

We may be

 painfully

 pushed 

 down

   but 

 we are

 NEVER

  EVER

  OUT!

 Jesus says

 FEAR NOT

      

Why? How?

In all reality,

make that 

 REALITY,

we are not 

our troubles 

    and

conditions,

as hugely 

concerning 

as they are.

We are of God.

  Conditions 

 can cripple

us and society

in a lot of ways

      but

Our God Core 

        is 

indestructible.

Jesus is saying that

and that we are 

not abandoned. 

He is with us.

Jesus assures us,

  he urges us to

    Trust Him

    to endure 

       and

    together 

 work through.

     Upset, 

   stressed, 

  stretched 

     yes

     but

 FEAR NOT

In so doing

we will suffer.

Jesus did.

Women birthing do.

Farm workers do.

Life giving is like that

and all the more so 

in today's societal 

Death Valley.

Our troubles 

    and

conditions

may take away 

all we have, 

never who we are 

and whose we are.

That's forever solid.

That's oneness in 

  Forever Life  

  God's in us.

  FEAR NOT

So, we companion 

each other in our 

troubles to tragedies.

We get in tight 

with those cut out of 

advantage and security.

    We bring love,

         ours

    one in God's,  

      to bare 

   on social evils

 and help the hurt 

   as and where 

      we can.

In the meantime it's

      Trustime,

    all the time.

     FEAR NOT

    

That means 

we experience 

mutual indwelling

    with God.

It's more intimate

than the most perfect 

human union 

multiplied by 

divine endless.

As Jesus puts it:

" I am the vine; 

  you are 

  the branches.

   John 15:5

Shared Oneness.

What is us 

is God shared.

  We are God 

 branched out-

Vine and Branch.

   Our core is 

 indestructible.

   Fear Not

We've heard 

all this before,

or have we?

As simply 

and deeply 

as possible, 

let's listen as

"Cor ad cor 

  loquitor",

"Heart speaks 

 to heart"

God's, ours,

each other's.

"As the Father 

 has loved me, 

 so I have loved you. 

 Remain in my love."

     John 15:9

That's one heaven 

of a lot of love.

In fact, it is 

Love Itself.

What a way 

   to be,

   to remain,

   no matter 

   the mess 

    outside

  and all about.

  Deal with it, 

    count on 

   GodLove

     and

  FEAR NOT

  "For this reason 

   I say to you...

   do not be worried 

   about your life.

   Look at the birds 

   of the air,...

   your heavenly Father 

   cares for them.

   Are you not worth 

   much more than they?'

     In Mathew 7:1-23

    Jesus assures us 

      in many ways 

       that we are in

          His Care 

          Secured.

   That's not ouchless

         but that 

        GodCare

        is certain.

        FEAR NOT

       

When the bottom falls out,

when the walls cave in,

it hurts like hell,

it feels like all is lost

and that in a bad ending.

But it never is the end 

because God has our back, 

is our base, our forever:

"Fear not, little flock, 

 for your Father 

 has been pleased 

 to give you 

 the kingdom."

 Luke 12:32

We're family,

God and us all

altogether,

right now,

never stopping.

  FEAR NOT

Paul lived

a beautiful life 

in an ugly society.

He suffered 

truckloads 

of troubles.

He kept on truck'n.

May ours be his 

spirit and witness 

to Timothy:

 "The Lord 

  will rescue me 

  from every 

  evil attack

  and will bring 

  me safely to his 

  heavenly kingdom.

  To him be glory 

  for ever and ever. 

       Amen"

  2 Timothy 4:18

     FEAR NOT

Jesus is assuring us 

that for all the 

evil and pain 

right now 

we don't need 

to take an 

early retirement 

from full torque life, 

off in a cabin 

all by itself 

in outer Mongolia.

Equivalently 

Jesus empowers us 

to stick around, 

to stick to it.

    FEAR NOT

Given our givens

these days of 

  crumbling, 

  danger, 

  destruction, 

  destabilization,

 we do well to be

 deep embedded 

     in for real 

      spiritual 

    community.

Things look to get 

way more undone.

We need others.

Others need us.

  "Where two or three 

   are gather in my name, 

   I am in their midst."

   Matthew 18:20

        FEAR NOT

        

Given our givens 

of rush and busy,

we do well 

to go apart,

close the door 

on all our 

hurry scurry,

be Abba embraced

and soak in 

these scriptures.

Better yet, 

let them sink in, 

all the way in

so that we 

live a yes 

as Jesus 

empowers us 

      to

 FEAR NOT

  ******

         

   FURTHERENCE

For those who wish 

to pray/ponder more

over all this in the 

days and nights 

to come:

- Where are we in

  actually, practically 

      trusting God

       personally 

        and in 

     community?

- What "conditions" 

  impact us

  right now 

  threatening fear?

- Just how open are we 

  to being strengthened 

  in community?

- How and what 

  are we doing to 

  strengthen others?

- How can we 

   Live A Yes 

   trusting God?

- What can we do locally 

  to support the 

  knocked down?

- Who are some people 

  and where are some places 

  we can pray for as they 

  suffer terrible "conditions" 

  just now?  

              ******

SO GOOD TO BE 

IN COMMUNITY

      HERE

ONLINE POSTINGS

Thursday afternoons

(frequently mornings)

East Coast USA time

LAST FIVE POSTINGS
    

     AVAILABLE

          by

   scrolling down 

beneath this posting

    Thank You

        for 

     sharing

frankly speaking

   with others

 See you next week.

Praying us all the best.

     Love to all.

     God Bless,

     John Frank

"When I am afraid, 

 I put my trust in you."

       Ps 56:3

        frankly speaking

   spirituality for the street

johnfrankshares.blogspot.com

              ******

 

       

     

 

IN THE KNOW

Dear All of Us,

We humans,

especially

those of us

in the Western World,

are a bunch of loves,

but do we ever 

get all tangled up

in our heads.

Early on, and

very much from

the ancient Greeks,

we realized we can

   "figure out"

      a lot

       be

IN THE KNOW

 a great deal.

 Marvelous!

But we overdid it.

We tried to

capture in concept

that which is

beyond the reach,

certainly the realm,

of concept.

We absolutized our

relative, limited 

   

    concepts.

The Church did it.

It dogmatized 

   concepts

to the detriment 

  of mystery

and the living of

the mystery that is

       God.

The Enlightenment 

       did it.

It canonized,

if not deified,

man's measures.

The Enlightenment was

a sixty-watt bulb

that thought it was 

the sun.

A lot of modern,

and much current,

post modern,

philosophy, science,

art, psychology, culture,

and most of all,

our right now 

   spin out

with the cult of

 "ME- ISM"

are such.

They are

the arrayment

the emperor

doesn't have.

They leave people 

    naked to 

huge swaths of

 nothingness.



The overdo

of the rational

has gotten us into

troubles terrible.

In fact, it is plain,

old-fashioned idolatry.

We have erected

and worshipped

these gods of our

determinations.

They cannot and

do not hold up to

the mystery of what

        "IS"

     Existence

      Reality

       God

They fail and we fall.




Enter Einstein.

He sure was

"IN THE KNOW."

He could figure 

far, far, far out!.

And yet he

recognized

  Reality,

 What Is, 

 to be a

limitless 

mystery.

He counselled

that we use 

our mind

as far as 

it will go

and let it go 

at that.

Go home,

have supper 

rejoicing

in what we know

  and knowing 

   

    we know

   a speck of

  the mystery 

 

    of what

      "IS"

     in our

   capsulized

   confined 

   concepts.



When it comes to God

we can't grasp,

exhaust or define.

We can and we do 

   experience

 a touch of the

limitless Mystery

   that is God.

That is our spiritual life.

We can and do articulate

   a little, limited bit

   of the experience.

We tool that expression

  with simile, analogy,

      metaphor.



"God is love."

1 John 4:8

We don't figure out God.

We live-love God.

We are "in" Love.




     The only way

     we know God

     is the way

     lovers know

     each other.



"God may be 

reached and held

by means of love,

but by means 

of thought never."

  The Cloud of 

  Unknowing

  14th. Cent.

  Spiritual Classic



"Remember,

mystery isn't something

you cannot understand -

it is something you can

endlessly understand!

There is no point

at which you can say,

'I've got it.'

Always and forever,

mystery gets you!"

  Richard Rohr



The ancient Hebrews

had a word for

love making.

It was to

"Know"

the other.

For them and for us

that's the only way

we know God -

in love making,

    loving

     God

  neighbor

    self.

When it comes to God

  

We're in Love

  

We're In the Know

as we get lost in a 

skyscape at sunset,

as we hold a 

sleeping baby,

as we flow with

Gregorian Chant,

as we mow an 

elderly person's lawn,

as we soak in a hot bath,

a gentle wine at hand,

as we close the door

and mellow in 

the embrace of Abba,

as we be and do 

anything that is

    LOVE-LY

    What a 

   WHOLLY

    HOLY

 

    WOW 

    to be

IN THE KNOW

    ******




A WARM WELCOME

         and

    GREETING

         to

        ALL



ONLINE POSTINGS

Thursday Afternoons

(frequently morning)

East Coast USA Time

LAST FIVE POSTINGS

     AVILABLE

         by

  scrolling down

     beneath

   this posting

See you next week.

   

   Love to all.

  

   God Bless,

   John Frank

           frankly speaking

     spirituality for the street

johnfrankshares.blogspot.com

                ******