WALK

Dear All of Us,

When I was a kid,

a bunch of us

used to walk 

each other home 

every day

after school.

As those days 

matured into years,

   I realized 

we're all walking 

each other home

   every day 

   every way

   all the time

   all the way.

It starts at birth 

and stretches across 

   all the days 

   and ways

   of our living

   til we're all

  Home Safe 

   Heaven

The Holy One

conceived us,

setting us on 

our way 

to grow go 

together.

We literally make 

all the difference 

in the world 

to each other.

We need others.

Others need us.

It's meant to be 

   great fun.

  Sometimes 

  it's just that.

  We're in on 

    Creation 

      live 

      and 

  immediate.

   Sometimes 

 it just ain't so.

There's screw up.

It hurts like hell.

Either the way, 

we walk it together.

This last week 

it has been 

hard as hell,

as hot as hell, 

   for my 

wonderous 

    little

almost four

  year old  

Grand Son, 

   Ollie.

 He was 

stricken with

Staphylococcal

Scalded Skin 

 Syndrome.

Thats long for 

horrible pain.

The skin breaks out 

all over the body

and feels as though 

it has been scalded.

Touch or movement

    mean agony.

It's treated much as in 

   The Burn Unit

Our daughter 

and son in law

have love soothed,

close companioned 

Ollie day and night 

in the hospital -

Assuring Presence

in his pained way.

Speaking of the  

hospital staff, 

our daughter 

said they are 

   sensitive,

gifted, healing,

   "saints"

They're all making 

a world of difference 

      for Ollie 

as he navigates this 

perilous and painful 

stretch of the road. 

We're all walking

each other home

Our spiritual lives 

 are a glorious 

and tight wrap

    of being 

woven One in 

passionate intimacy

     with God

 and then hitting 

   the streets 

   of daily life 

    with God

helping each other 

   make a go, a

     God Go 

       of it.

Sometimes it's 

parents staying up 

  day and night 

      with a 

  suffering child.

Most of the time 

  it's practically

loving our neighbor 

   as ourselves,

doing unto others 

as we would have 

    done to us, 

knowing in person 

 and in real time, 

 what we do unto 

 the least of those

  out here on the 

    Life's Lane 

   we are doing 

    unto Christ.

It can mean:

- being all ears and heart

  listening to another's

  joy or travail

- slowing down to catch up 

  with those limping along

- letting others give us a lift 

  when we are down

  and out

- not taking anymore 

  than we need and 

  making sure others 

  have enough

- smiling at a baby 

  in a carriage 

- listening to an 

  eight-year-old 

  practicing the violin

  for an eternal half hour

- writing a not 

  too short story 

  on our phone

  while a senior adult

  fumbles through 

  twenty-seven coupons, 

     some dating back to a

     Thanksgiving Special

     in 2010 

  at the cash register

  while the waiting line

  stretches all the way 

  to the storeroom

- helping the "newbi" 

  at work get in 

  the swing of things

- finding ways to get 

  folks together 

  for a hay of 

  a good time

- tipping extravagantly

- together being a

  real, salty sweet 

  church community,

  refusing to let 

  our church be either 

  a museum for the past 

  or a wrong now 

  friendship desert

- whispering a prayer

  for the bloke

  laying on the horn

  behind us 

  at a red light 

  (or even a green light!)

- having new neighbors 

  over for dinner

- paying attention 

  to others so deeply 

  that we come to

  appreciate and celebrate

  different personalities, 

  persuasions, 

  talents and tastes

  that are far from ours 

- doing what we can for

  the inclusion and justice 

  of all different sorts of us

- big ways, little ways,

  helping each other 

  along the way home 

  and letting them 

  the same for us.

  Here are two little lifts

  for the walk:

- An elderly 

  friend of mine

  drives every day 

  to be with her husband 

  in a Hospice Care Facility.

  Last week there was 

  a heavy snow 

  overnight in her town.

  When she got up 

  neighbors were 

  plowing the driveway, 

  clearing off the car 

  and shoveling 

  the sidewalk 

  and front steps.

  

We're all walking 

each other home.

- The Washington Post 

   publishes online and 

   offers for free each 

   Wednesday and Sunday 

        THE OPTIMIST

        Check out the 

  January 26, 2025 issue,

         especially

   - An airport piano...

   - Pizza driver gets...

       true accounts of 

            Yep, 

   We're all walking 

   each other home

"I am the way..."

"Wherever two or three 

 are together in my name, 

 there I am in their midst."

           Jesus

    Great company as 

    We're all walking 

    each other home  

           ******

It's great for us to be 

walking home together

here at

        frankly speaking

   spirituality for the street

johnfrankshares.blogspot.com

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Every goodness.

  Love to all

 John Frank

BUS

Dear All of Us,

My good friend,  

Michael Schaadt,

shared this with me.

I share with you.

May we all share  

    

   This Light

"Some years ago, 

I was stuck 

on a crosstown bus 

in New York City 

during rush hour. 

Traffic was 

barely moving. 

The bus was filled 

with cold, tired people 

who were 

deeply irritated 

with one another, 

with the world itself. 

Two men barked 

at each other 

about a shove 

that might

or might not 

have been intentional. 

A pregnant woman 

got on, and nobody 

offered her a seat. 

Rage was in the air; 

no mercy 

would be found here.

But as the bus 

approached 

Seventh Avenue, 

the driver 

got on the intercom. 

"Folks," he said, 

"I know you have had 

a rough day and 

you are frustrated. 

I can't do anything 

about the weather 

or traffic, but here is 

what I can do. 

As each one of you 

gets off the bus, 

I will reach out 

my hand to you. 

As you walk by, 

drop your troubles 

into the palm 

of my hand, okay? 

Don't take 

your problems home 

to your families tonight, 

just leave them with me. 

My route goes right by 

the Hudson River, 

and when I drive 

by there later, 

I will open the window 

and throw your troubles 

in the water."

It was as if 

a spell had lifted. 

Everyone burst out 

laughing. 

Faces gleamed 

with surprised delight. 

People who had 

been pretending 

for the past hour 

not to notice 

each other's 

existence were 

suddenly 

grinning at each 

other like, 

is this guy serious?

Oh, he was serious.

At the next stop, 

just as promised, 

the driver 

reached out his hand, 

palm up, and waited. 

One by one, 

all the exiting commuters 

placed their hand 

just above his and 

mimed the gesture 

of dropping something 

into his palm. 

Some people laughed 

as they did this, 

some teared up 

but everyone did it.

The driver repeated 

the same lovely ritual 

at the next stop, too. 

And the next. 

All the way to the river.

We live in a hard world, 

my friends. Sometimes 

it is extra difficult 

to be a human being. 

Sometimes 

you have a bad day. 

Sometimes 

you have a bad day 

that lasts 

for several years. 

You struggle and fail. 

You lose jobs, money, 

friends, faith, and love. 

You witness 

horrible events 

unfolding in the news, 

and you become fearful 

and withdrawn. 

There are times 

when everything 

seems cloaked in darkness. 

You long for the light 

but don't know 

where to find it.

But what if 

you are the light? 

What if you are 

the very agent 

of illumination that 

a dark situation begs for? 

That's what this bus driver 

taught me, that anyone 

can be the light, 

at any moment. 

This guy wasn't some 

big power player. 

He wasn't 

a spiritual leader. 

He wasn't some 

media-savvy influencer. 

He was a bus driver, 

one of society's 

most invisible workers. 

But he possessed 

real power, 

and he used it 

beautifully 

for our benefit.

When life feels 

especially grim, 

or when I feel 

particularly powerless 

in the face 

of the world's troubles, 

I think of this man 

and ask myself, 

What can I do, right now, 

to be the light? 

Of course, 

I can't personally 

end all wars, or solve 

global warming, 

or transform 

vexing people 

into entirely 

different creatures. 

I definitely 

can't control traffic. 

But I do have 

some influence 

on everyone 

I brush up against, 

even if we never 

speak or learn 

each other's name.

"No matter who you are, 

or where you are, 

or how mundane or tough 

your situation may seem, 

I believe you can 

illuminate your world. 

In fact, I believe this is 

the only way the world 

will ever be illuminated, 

one bright act of grace 

at a time, 

all the way to the river."

~ Elizabeth Gilbert

        ******

     WHAT A WEEK

It has been wonderous.

This week multiples of

many new people from 

Germany, Austria, Brazil

            to 

Kenya, Tunisia and

many more lands

virtually immigrated 

  to join us here.

       

  You are welcome 

          and 

 lovingly embraced 

     here in this 

      Love Land

           of

  frankly speaking

      that we all 

      are happy 

      to share 

      with you.

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January 28,2025

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January 31, 2025

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Glad we're all together here 

           on the bus.

                  Jesus is 

    

     "THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD

     How wonderful that he wants 

          to share and shine  

              through us.

                 Lots of 

      "This Little Light Of Mine"

    shared and shinning together

        will, as Elizabet said,

             bright lite lift

            where we live

            THE WORLD

             Love to all.

             God Bless,

             John Frank 

             frankly speaking

        spirituality for the street

    johnfrankshares.blogspot.com

                  ******

BOTTOMS UP

     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"

     ******

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January 21, 2025

       

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January 24, 2025

   ******

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first timers

some timers

all the timers

   here at

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to all who share 

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In the Spirit,

Bottoms Up!

Love to all.

John Frank

  ******

             

LIGHTEN UP

Dear All of Us,

So, look.

For those of us

in a hurry

to catch a plane

        or

change a baby's diaper,

here's the whole point 

of this blog:   

    For God's sake, 

    for sanity's sake, 

    really for both,

         let's 

    LIGHTEN UP

Sure, the sky may fall.

Let's dance until it does.

We dance divine eternal. 

If it doesn't, dance on we will

         here and now, 

         vigorously so.

What's shooing 

us too many off 

the dance floor is 

  FUTURE FEAR

There's this 

killer anxiety

that's making us 

crazy afraid and angry 

            and 

crazy afraid and angry

with each other.

We fear that

the dance floor

is about to fall out 

from under us,

pitching us into 

unbearable 

pain and turmoil.

At the moment 

here in The States

the fears goes 

Something Like This:

With the Democrats 

it's liberal, 

permissive, 

feather headed 

fluff and furry,

intrusive government

on a spending spree.

With the Republicans 

it's dictatorial 

control and chaos, 

diminished social justice,

environmental and 

international disaster.  

Globally there is the fear 

that migration will overwhelm, 

that resources and environment 

    will fail to our fatality,

that fascists and dictators

    will rule to our ruin,

that society is on life support.

        FUTURE FEAR

               of

   COMING CATSTROPHY

       

       RIGHT or LEFT

       we suffer and 

       cause others 

       to suffer from

              PTS

"Pre" Traumatic Syndrome

We're suffering not a now

    but a future feared,

               a 

           MAYBE 

          POSSIBLY

   CAN'T SAY FOR SURE

Cause and effect 

are seen in 

radically different 

and frightful ways.

Those on the 

Right and Left 

sides of the dance hall

blame and fear the other.

    No Chance Dance!!!!

We just can't

       "Partner Up"

Our individual and 

corporate souls

are at issue here.

We literally need

"to get it together"

         as in

     God is One

We have our being 

      together 

in God's Oneness 

     and that 

in different ways.

We need to 

warm into that.

The ancient symbol

for God is a perfect

        CIRCLE

no beginning, no end,

altogether and always

       perfectly

          ONE

Our being as 

the ones we are

comes from 

being together   

in the sweep 

of that dynamic

      ONE

     that is 

      GOD

Now imagine a circle 

         where 

     The Left Side 

          and 

    The Right Side

separate from each other,

seek to cancel each other out.

The circle fails-falters-flat.

In the current environment 

    we really do need an 

   Atmospheric Change!

     A SPIRITUAL ONE

   "My prayer is...

    that all of them  

    may be one, Father, 

    just as you are in me 

    and I am in you. 

    May they also be in us 

    so that the world 

    may believe

    that you have sent me."

    John 17: 20-21

Let's read this 

again and again 

until we realize 

that no less than 

      Jesus 

is telling us that 

BELIEVABILITY

     IN HIM 

  WORLDWIDE 

depends on our unity, 

on Right and Left 

being supportive of 

      difference 

     in a unified 

         ONE

          in 

         HIM

It's not "faith" 

in doctrinal concepts,

denominational 

affiliation,

rite or ritual 

that does it.

Look where 

that has 

gotten us and

has failed 

to get us.

    BELIEVABILITY

the ability of the world 

      to believe

   happens when 

    we are holy 

        as in

      WHOLE

We can be different

We must be together.

Differences span 

a circle 

do not split off, 

do not push others off,

claiming they alone are

the one and only 

true circle.

They need each other 

for balance 

and symmetry.

They thrive 

in contributing

their uniqueness 

to a dynamic 

      ONENESS  

They need each other

       to be a

       WHOLE 

Each gives the best 

of what it is as it is.

        To be a 

  Follower of Jesus 

     is to be in a 

Oneness of Diversity

Seeing is Believing.

A stressed world

     is looking.

     May we 

   LIGHTEN UP

   Embrace our 

   differences,

   Rejoice in our

       unity.

A stressed world

would love to see it

and be able 

to believe it.

GOD'S ONENESS

LEFT AND RIGHT

          a

      WHOLE

DIVINE DYNAMIC

We can lighten up 

the world 

as all sides of a 

HOLY CIRCLE

DANCE A ONENESS

    spin lift

 LIGHTEN UP

   ******

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January 14, 2025

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      Circle Centered

           here at

      frankly speaking

   spirituality for the street

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    "I'm sort of pessimistic 

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    and optimistic about 

    the day after tomorrow,'

           Erik Severeid 

        Sage of CBS News

      Have a great week.

           Love to all.

           God Bless,

           John Frank

            ******