Dear All of Us,
In a kooky,
crazy way,
it seems like
we're all
driving around
with a great
big, bold
bumper sticker:
HONK FOR
ANXIETY
It's plain pain
manner of fact.
Some say it.
Some deny it.
Some dodge it
(or is that DOGE?).
All are
heavy headed,
heart sad,
with it
Left and Right
Here in The States,
and in many other
States of less than grace,
there is a seismic split
in the Body Public.
It's deep and deadly.
A body can't live
like that.
Halved is "had"
as indeed dead.
Reflected or avoided,
we all know that
at our deepest.
Left and Right
dis, deny, disallow
the other.
The Common Good,
give and take,
basic respect, civility,
and certainly affection,
are thrown under the bus
and run over.
Community cedes to
gated clans of
fearful idealogues.
It wares the hell into us.
All left or all right
is not at all right.
We are left
frantically lifeless
- yes, that's
a contradiction
and so is what it
bespeaks.
Our self-slaughter
split
is fundamentally
a spiritual crisis -
a mortal-moral lack
of God's love
lived and shared,
the failure of
Left and Right
to be
different
together.
It makes us
maddeningly
anxious
overwhelmed
Postponement,
program, power,
politics, money,
force, distraction,
executive orders,
churchy busy,
legislation,
will not relieve,
solve, unite, save us.
A spiritual failure
can only be righted
spiritually.
There is a way.
In a different
context and time,
failed religion
- religion split
from Spirit -
wore people down.
So did their Roman
occupation
and
oppression.
They were
worn out,
tired.
It was
Empire
religious
governmental
societal
for the
Jewish people.
It left them
down
not at all right
anxious,
overwhelmed.
Back then there,
in our here now,
Jesus invites a
spiritual
reset, refresh,
a
SOUL SHARE
a
LIFE SHARE
His for us
Us in His.
Left and Right
together
the possibility
and paradox of
differentiated unity
in the love
that is God
-the way water
and air do it-
Jesus offers
rest, refresh,
resilience,
Matthew 11:28-30.
We let Jesus lead.
We listen
with our heart
as Jesus
shows and shares
The Way
We welcome Jesus
from his center
to love to speak to ours:
"Are you tired?
Worn out?
Burnt out on religion?
Come to me.
Get away with me and
you'll recover your life.
I'll show you how
to take a real rest.
Walk with me and
work with me
- watch how I do it.
Learn the unforced
rhythms of grace.
I won't lay
anything heavy
or ill-fitting on you.
Keep company with me
and you'll learn to live
freely and lightly."
The Message
"Keeping company"
with Jesus,
we go forward
Differently One.
Jesus sets
the pace,
the walk,
the work,
"The unforced
rhymes of grace"
The Gospels
of his sharing
chart coarse,
point principals to be
practically practiced.
Jesus didn't start
by changing
the context
- Empire -
religious
or
governmental.
He drew close in
with people
in its midst.
He shared
his heart and life.
He invited
citizenship
in the
Kingdom Of God.
He empowered
a way to live
in the midst of
and beyond
Empire
its divisions,
its splits,
its exclusiveness,
its excluding
its Rights and Lefts
He did it.
He wants
to give it
to us.
Living
The Way
has
the realness,
the energy,
the grace
so that we can
live light in dark,
Left and Right
bracing a unity.
It frees us from
bring so deadly
anxious
and
overwhelmed,
driven to
HONK
FOR ANXIETY
Empire
won't change
except in
form and force.
Today's iteration
of Empire is sharp
Rights and Lefts
cutting each other off
at life's intersections.
We can change that.
We have Jesus,
The Word,
on it:
"Keep company
with me and
you'll learn to live
freely and lightly."
******
WONDERFUL GOOD NEWS
AND
THANKS
My little Grand Son
Ollie
has made a marvelous,
indeed miraculous
recovery
My family and I thank
God working through
wondrous medicines
and the medical staff at
Washington
Children's Hospital.
We also thank all
who reached out
to us in loving
support and prayer.
Thanks many much!!
from our hearts to yours.
******
Let's share this blog and
this possibility with others.
NEXT ONLINE POSTING
Tuesday morning/afternoon
East Coast USA time
February11,2025
NEXT EMAIL DELIVERY
Friday
February14,2025
(Valentines Day)
LAST FIVE POSTINGS
AVAILABLE
by
scrolling down beneath
this posting
WELCOME ALL
with a very special greeting
to the large group
from the UK who
joined in with us
this week.
Delightful!
Glad we all can be
Differently One
here at
frankly speaking
spirituality for the street
johnfrankshares.blogspot.com
Yes we can live
"freely and lightly"
no matter
what's the matter
around us.
Love to all.
God Bless,
John Frank
******
An After Thought
Some maintain that
the current cultural,
political power players,
Left or Right,
in various States
across our world
are gleeful,
are not upset,
are not driven down
with our split,
are not anxious
and overwhelmed.
On a surface level,
some are not.
Beneath the buzz
and power wielding,
though
the pain of half.
It's a victory of
severance.
They get half
the corpse
of our
Body Public
be it
Left or Right.
They are
terribly
anxious
overwhelmed
even if it is
covered over
and dodged
in the moment of
power pump
and pomp.
******
