HI HELLO
Hope you are well
and that things go
God Good
right there
where you are.
Here in DC
we are having an
"A Plus"
Day
clear,
bright beautiful.
Our posting this week
is a meditation on
life's line up
as Jesus offers it
and how we can
line
UP
with Him
******
Dear All of Us,
Some people flip houses
to get ahead in life's lineup.
Jesus flips life's lineup itself:
The first are last.
The last are first.
Matthew 20:16
Our culture prefers it
the other way round.
Our culture likes
linear living.
You start here,
work hard,
progress up the line,
end up, well,
Up
First
On Top
A controlled experience
with us alone at the controls -
the "self made,"
and sad such a lonely self it is.
So like Thomas Merton's
comment on success:
People climb up
the ladder of success
only to find nothing
because their ladder
is up against the wrong wall.
Jesus comes at it
altogether differently.
He is counter cultural,
his and ours.
Jesus
is a big fan of
BOTTOMS UP
The best is
at the bottom
even though it doesn't
seem so at first.
For Jesus, life is like an
Upside Down
Cake.
The best is definitely
at the bottom.
BOTTOMS UP
We see same with seeds.
Seeds won't grow
high up on a shelf.
They need
to go down ground
to grow Up.
BOTTOMS UP
Bottom
is
the platform for up.
Last
is
the starting point for
First
Bottom/Last is where
Jesus was in the lineup.
No ordination.
No political power.
No position of dominance.
No wealth.
With the last and the least.
With the "with outs."
With those bottomed out.
With those "dis- eased"
in body/spirit.
With ordinary/everyday,
make a buck and
have a family people.
With those having
no limiting illusions
of ascendency/high status.
With them Jesus gave
the foundation of fullness,
first class life
in
The Kingdom of God.
BOTTOMS UP
Jessus does not
counsel or condone
being put down,
being down and out,
being dirt poor,
being a no account nobody.
What Jesus does do
is go to our bottom,
gets us grounded in
God
We live a
faith filled
discipleship.
It's pure gift.
No "selfie mades."
Jesus meets us where
we have nothing
and gives us
All
What Jesus does do
is go to our
bottom most core,
connects us
deeply and firmly
with others
at theirs'
as a community
of shared life,
help and support,
a community
"In" Spirited,
"The Gathered"
From there it's
Up Lift
last to first.
BOTTOMS UP
What Jesus does do
is get us all together
"uping"
the ground down
in this world.
What Jesus does do is
show us that
getting ahead,
being first,
is first of all
from deep down
loving
God, neighbor, self
so really that
- at our most basic,
we are "crazy nuts,"
head over heals,
first and foremost,
profoundly,
passionately
loving on God
from our bottom
all the way to our top,
basement to attic
- letting God love/lift us up
to endless goodness
in The Kingdom of God
and joining in God's
like love of ourselves.
- getting at the end
of the line,
going to society's cellar
to help all
stuck/stymied there
get on their feet
and fast forward.
- accepting that on our own
we are nothing,
we don't even exist,
and that God wants
to "life" us up
real, loving, eternal
and
out of the ballpark
joyous,
- God gives us a self
to be, to love, to share -
we catch on
that first of all
there was nothing of us
and last of all and
everlastingly we are loved
rip roaring alive and joyous.
Now how's that for a flip!!
- God wants us together
in on doing that for all.
It flips everything
Up
God Way To Go!!
How do we go with it?
How does that get
lined up
in our living?
Worth slow go sensing
Soul Deepest
and up from there.
So Here's to the
Jesus Flip
"BOTTOMS UP"
******
Next Online Posting
Tuesday Morning/Afternoon
East Coast USA Time
January 21, 2025
Next Email Delivery
Friday,
January 24, 2025
******
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first timers
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all the timers
here at
frankly speaking
spirituality for the street
johnfrankshares.blogspot.com
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A WORD OF THANKS
to all who share
frankly speaking
with others.
In the Spirit,
Bottoms Up!
Love to all.
John Frank
******
