HOW DID THIS HAPPEN

 

       Dear All of Us,

   I'm just now turning

       eighty-five.

     Good Heavens

HOW DID THIS HAPPEN

I was conceived in 1939 

(not too clear about 

the exact date, 

but I'm sure

you understand), 

was born April 30, 1940

(can barely count back that far)

and am still kicking around

eighty-five years later,

albeit top speed 

barley beating out 

a snail at her best pace 

on a good day, and

I do that 

"huffin and puffin"

with increasing rest stops

all along an 

ever-shorter way.

On top of that I am 

the eldest of eight

 

  (Need I say it, 

   Roman Rule 

       and

 

    Roulette).  

Only one sister and I remain

      (tough way to have 

 

       a favorite sister).

Oh gosh, is it still true that 

only the good die young?

If so, here comes 

one heck of a stint 

in Catholic/Protestant Purgatory 

for this big, bad old boy!.

                     

         ******

Hey, that was fun.

Thanks for staying tuned!!

Actually and happily, 

many of us get 

freed up and playful 

as we age on.

Thus the above 

and it admittedly 

    cum vino, 

  

     but hey,

 "in vino veritas."

     

        cum vino 

        with wine 

        "in vino veritas" 

        "in wine the truth"

Ever so grateful for 

my birthday, I have a

birthday gift for you.

The gift is this.

The real question isn't at all 

HOW DID THIS HAPPEN

The real question is: 

WHY DID THIS HAPPEN

The real answer is because:

   We are created by

      Love for Love.

     "God is Love" 

      1 John 4:8

          and 

    God just can't 

  keep it to himself.

    So God shares 

who and how God is.

     That's Love. 

And in his Love 

God creates us 

so he can 

        

love us divine.

After these many years

I've come to see that 

there really is 

nothing but God Love.

It's in flowers, babies, 

music, the ocean, 

a good supper,

a wonderous wife 

patiently and generously 

caring for an older spouse.

God is 

the essence, 

the energy,

of all that is 

God Good.

Sadly, some people 

twist love 

wrong and weird,

not letting God 

love them divine.

They damage.

They end up

loveless, 

empty,

nothing forever.

That sure is hell. 

If we let 

"God Love" 

live through us 

and love on us 

we are unstoppable.  

The poets got it 

so spot on long ago:

 "Love is eternal"

    

  and we will be too!

      "God Love" 

 

           is 

       way too 

   divine dynamic 

        to ever 

 slow down or stop.

God gives 

The Birthday Gift 

      our life.

God would love 

to love 

on us forever, 

to forever.

So, on a day-to-day basis, 

until we don't need 

days anymore,

 

we accept God's 

   Love Flow 

through us 

in every way 

and place 

we are, 

in all we do and 

how we do it.

 

          

We're Lovers

.

My Birthday Gift 

is to remind us all that

       We will be 

 

         forever 

       as much as

       we let God 

      Love Us God

           now

Thanks for coming 

to my Birthday Party.

I sure do love you all!

      God Bless

      John Frank

        ******

NEXT ONLINE POSTING

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May 6, 2025

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See you next week.

     Love to all.

     God Bless!

    John Frank 

     ******

        

 

               

                                  

OPPOSITES

   Dear All of Us,

So, how are you with 

    OPPOSITES

    go or no? 

    Seems 

opposites scare 

the hell into

a lot of people.

They like

more than 

their milk 

homogenized.

Not me!

Opposites are a good deal.

They hold up bridges.

Salt and sugar 

companion to

spice things up

in opposite ways.

God's Creation 

is all in: 

male and female

day and night,

birth and death.

Opposites don't oppose.

They compliment and complete.

Some ruminations.

Left and right go opposite ways.

Those opposites open up a

        Full Spectrum, 

geographically, intellectually,

spiritually, experientially, 

completely,

        "ALL-a-ly."

Imagine the absurdity of 

only being able to go or see left.

We'd never get to Grandma's 

for Thanksgiving because 

she lives due west,

way right of 

one's eastern location.

Looking only left 

we'd get more than 

a crick in the neck.

We'd miss a heaven of a lot

of Creation's vastness

    that's just right

              REALITY

          is like our globe

We live in a wraparound fulness.

             ONENESS

     We can have opposite 

       shapes and starts

       even be poles apart.

       They all lead round,

       fitting together,

       filling out a completeness.

 

 That fullness is a unity, 

              a 

         ONENESS

           GOD

     "Hear, O Isreal: 

The Lord our God is one."

     Deuteronomy 6:4

          and it is

"In him we live and move 

    and have our being.

    We are his offspring"

         Acts 17: 28

       That "WE" is 

      ALL INCLUSIVE

         ONENESS

         opposites 

     being together in

        God Good

Misused, though,

opposites conflict.

If I think I'm 

the only act in town and

someone quite opposite

takes the stage 

a terrible tragedy 

plays out.

If I'm glad to be 

the class act 

God made me to be  

and a quite opposite

God made class act

takes the stage

we get to team it 

       for a

   God Good

   Class Act

Double Attraction

         of 

    Opposites

making a greater

     Fullness

     

Other people, religions,

political persuasions,

customs, tastes,

personalities, talents

make for a fullness that

     "Only one of 

      a kind-mine" 

   can't catch-match

  in a forever of tries. 

Paul puts it positive.

He describes 

        The Church 

              as

    The Body of Christ

      many opposites

          united 

       harmonizing 

     in unity for good.

(1 Corinthians 12: 12-31)

           It's like 

     opposites such as 

      fingers and eyes 

        cooperating

             for

 eye hand coordination

 enabling brain surgery. 

     It's good to be 

   opposite positive.

     

     Paul points out 

there are different kinds of 

 gifts, service, working

      all coming from 

      the same God 

             for 

    the common good.

(1 Corinthians 12: 1-11)

    These light bright 

   just right opposites

         from Paul 

     are such a help

       in times like 

      our right now 

         with its 

     fouling force fit

that one size must fit all.

That's because

here in Dodge

not so "right" now, 

it's deadly different

than Paul paints opposites

completing a fullness.

We've got  

rampant evil, 

a raging hell, 

   in our 

 World Body

these days of 

blackest night.

Its a cancer 

canceling out

anyone/anything

opposite

It's a lethal

Soul Sickness

that threatens 

to cancel us all out.

I sense that 

it stems from a

tragic lack of

felt and/or accepted

joy in being a 

God given 

Class Act

among other 

and opposite

God given

Class Acts. 

That deficit

try's to

kick to death

what it is not

and ends up 

deadened itself

      and 

so horrendously

 madly much.

Opposites need opposites.

Conservatives need liberals

to loosen them, 

to free them up

for further fullness.

Liberals need 

conservatives

to help them 

hold fast 

to basic goods

and not free float 

into misty detachment

from rock real actuality.

Healthy souls and societies

rejoice in their uniqueness

and that of their opposites.

Such healthy 

souls and societies

delight that

opposites attract

to a union complete.

Creation is like 

a limitless

jigsaw puzzle 

fitting together 

as it expands.

God makes us 

the unique 

people pieces 

we are.

We and our 

opposite shapes

figure fit to 

God's Fullness

Opposites don't oppose.

They complement and complete.

               The Cross 

  is an intersection of opposites.

  It stretched deadly forever lively.

             Thank God for

               OPPOSITES

                 ******

              WELCOME ALL 

            sizes and shapes 

            to our connection 

            and unity here.

      

               A special joy

                  for our

        first ever participation 

                this week

                  from 

               Zimbabwe

                  and 

for the growing participation from 

          The Netherlands

                  and

                Russia

          We are blessed!

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April 29, 2025

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May 2, 2025

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       All the best.

    See you next week.

        Love to all.

        God Bless, 

        John Frank

      frankly speaking

  spirituality for the street

johnfrankshares.blogspot.com

            ******

 

             

 

ATTENSION

Dear All of Us,

I lucked out.

In my first year 

of seminary

I had the 

world's best ever 

homiletics professor, 

Father O.J. Miller.

He taught us that 

a sermon or article

      would fly

      ONLY IF 

in the first one minute 

it had an engaging 

anecdote, question,

something that really

caught people's 

  ATTENSION

I hope I just did that!

That's because

here is something 

that really needs our

immediate and full

   ATTENTION

We can't wait 

for things to be good 

so we can have an

 "A" No.1 Good Life.

We all know that 

our world right now 

isn't so right, is

troubled to turmoil.

Well, it was 

in Jesus' time, too.

Jesus just went on 

to live and give

The Kingdom of Heaven -

good life so good it is 

       God Life

shared in community 

      one with 

    all creation.

As Jesus taught prayer, 

we can live:

"Thy Kingdom come

 on earth as in heaven"

 right here in the midst 

 of our troubled times.

So, here is a

simple example of

Kingdom Come

    Right Now.

Sunday afternoon 

my wife and I 

went out for a walk 

in our quiet,

Washington, DC 

neighborhood.

We came upon 

three little girls

with a table 

on the sidewalk.

They were selling 

just-out-of-the-oven 

      cookies.

This pure, serene, 

endearing 

eight-year-old 

shared that they

were raising money 

for the orphans

(I expect the 

traumatized,

violated orphans 

in Gaza).

That gentle, 

sweet girl's

soulful sincerity 

and purpose

personified life lived in

The Kingdom of Heaven.

I thanked her and 

her companions

        for 

  who they are 

      and 

     what 

they were doing.

They got our 

   Attention 

     on the 

Kingdom of Heaven 

live and immediate

right down the block.

(and the cookies 

were delicious).

Right now, right here 

in Washington, DC

there's all kinds of 

Stress and Storm.

Who is job secure, 

how safe are 

foreign citizens

legally here,

will government work,

what about the economy 

and our savings,

can anybody talk straight? 

Right now, right here

in Washington, DC 

there are little girls  

     caring 

     about  

War Orphans.

It's God Love Lived.

They are not waiting for 

some supposed optimal 

time and setting.

We need not either.

"Our Father, 

who art in heaven,

hallowed be Thy name.

Thy kingdom come 

on earth as it is 

in heaven 

- come right here, 

  right now 

  in our neighborhoods

       worldwide. 

We won't wait to live

thy kingdom on earth 

as it is in heaven, 

promise!

And bless 

every little child

giving us 

lead and light,

getting our souls'

   ATTENTION

    ******

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April 22, 2025

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April 25, 2025

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      to our neighborhood

              here at

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    spirituality for the street

johnfrankshares.blogspot.com

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        below this posting

Here's to living

Kingdom Real

right here,

right now.

Easter UP-timism. 

Love to all,

God Bless,

John Frank

  ******

        

           

   

 

          

 

 

             

 

FROM THE HEART

  Dear All of Us,

    This week

 more than ever

      I write 

      straight  

FROM THE HEART

 from my heart 

 right to yours.

I ask your patience.

This is going to take 

      generous

consideration and focus.

I ask that together

       we give 

     mind-time 

        and 

  spirit-expanse 

      to it.

It's critical.

I'm painfully 

 concerned

for all of us.

      Concerned 

we darn well need be 

these dangerous days.

    Concern yes.

But worry and anxiety no. 

They just compound 

the problem 

and deplete 

our response reserve.

Worry and anxiety no.

Sadly though, so many are

painfully anxious right now,

worry weary worn.

There's such anxiety 

about what's being 

taken away and 

what is replacing it.

In painful contrast 

there's such anxiety, 

disguised as satisfaction, 

about getting rid of much

and reordering much other, 

yet worried and anxious

down deep that  

it may not work or hold.

Here in my homeland

       - USA -

      we are in 

   the early stages

    of a massive 

 Cultural Revolution.

Half of us are for it.

Half of us are not.

This seismic social 

shift and split

has unmoored 

much here

and worldwide. 

In different ways and

for different reasons, 

just about all are anxious,

admitted or satisfied.

We embody the very

root meanings of 

                   anxiety:

 (L)   "anxius" = distressed, troubled

 (Gk) "ankho" = to choke

And here comes Jesus:

 "Don't worry about things... 

  For you already have life and a body...

  Will your worries add a single moment to your life?...

  But your heavenly Father already knows perfectly well 

 (your needs) and will give them to you 

         if you give him first place in your life 

         and live as he wants you to." (1)

                (alinement with Reality)

Friends Right,

Friends Left,

Friends Middle. 

Do we give God 

  first place?

Are we living

as God wants?

God is no fool 

      and

we dare not fool around.

Jesus is bluntly clear. 

He's certainly not

fooling around.

Here are the

     now measure 

           and  

    forever results 

         of the

     anxiety free 

   Kingdom Living

     Jesus offers,

by giving the Father 

      first place 

        and 

       living 

 as he wants us to 

       or 

 not doing so:

    "I tell you the truth, 

     whatever you (do) did for 

     the least of my brethren, 

     you did unto me." (2)

There is a 

divine equivalency.

Treating others 

is treating God

for good or ill, 

giving God 

first place 

or not, 

living as the Father 

wants us to 

or not.

That's the measure.

The ultimate results are 

" Inherit the kingdom"

     eternal fulness

 (wondrous heaven)

            or

  "Depart from me ... 

   into the eternal fire" 

   forever nothingness

 (that will burn like hell)

 each depending on how 

 we treat God in others. (3)

Jesus is crystal clear 

about the measure:

     "Do unto others 

      as you would have them 

      do unto you." (4)

By what I do to and 

don't do for others 

I am directly doing 

or not to God,

I am giving primacy of place 

to God or refusing it.

Let's turn that round 

       to see it  

  ever more right:

   whatever we want 

   is a guide good to 

   what and how we 

      treat others:

- I don't want others 

  to have way more 

  than needed and me 

  not having enough 

  to make it, 

  so I will...

- I don't want others to force 

  their preferences on me, 

  so I will...

- I want safety, good education, 

   adequate medical care, 

  clear air, clean soil, 

  a decent standard of life 

  for me and mine, 

  so I will...

- I want others 

  to recognize I am 

  a child of God and 

  treat me as such, 

  so I will...

- I don't want others to have 

  privilege or preference 

  over me, 

  so I will...

- I don't want others forcing 

  their conscience on me, 

  so I will... 

- I want society to be structured 

  and experienced as 

  a family not as a 

  competitive corporation, 

  so I will... 

- I don't want to be 

  media-mental-moral-mad messed,

  so I will...

- I want genuine religious freedom, 

  so I will...

- I don't want The Common Good 

  to be restricted to select strata, 

  so I will...

- If I'm ever down and out 

  I don't want to be thrown out 

  on the street, 

  so I will...

- If I ever become mentally ill 

  I don't want others 

  to run away from me, 

  but get me help, 

  so I will...

- I don't want to be deported 

  just because I'm white 

  and was born here, 

  so I will...

- If/when/as I get poor, old, 

  handicapped, "different", 

  I don't want to be ignored, 

  hung out to dry 

  so I will...

- And.............................

  so I will...

If we love others as ourselves

we are giving the Father 

primacy of place,

we are living as the Father 

wants us to, 

we're loving God,

     "God is love... 

      There is no fear (anxiety)in love...

      But perfect love 

      drives out fear(anxiety) ..." (5)

As already said, these are

dark, dangerous times.

A lot is coming down and undone.

A lot more is to come down and undone.

It's a ride to we know not where.

Concern for sure.

    "Be wise as a serpent

     and as guileless

     as a dove" (6)

    

       Practically

   we can do little

   to right a world 

 being spun backward.

     A select few 

dominate the controls

         BUT

   anxiety, worry

    on our part 

won't change that.

     They are 

  wasted energy,

    missed life, 

disconnect from God.

To hell with anxiety!!

  To heaven with

     Godly Life 

in loving community,

personal, practical, 

        shared

         with

care for the least and all.

          Whatever

       the particulars 

       where we live 

      may we give God 

         first place 

        in our lives 

        and live as 

     God wants us to.

        For all of us 

          I pray it

     FROM THE HEART

   right from my heart 

         to yours.

Thanks for giving extra 

        Soul Time 

        this week.

 I'll make it up to you 

      next week.

       Promise!

With a bit of effort

I can actually can be 

     brief in word 

          but 

never in love for you!!

     God Bless

     Your brother

     John Frank

        ******

(1) Mt.6: 25-27, 32-33

     Living Bible translation

(2) Mt.25:40

(3) Mt.25:34 & 41

(4) Mt.7:12

(5) 1Jn.4:16,18

(6) Mt.10:16

            ******

  AN AFTER THOUGHT

Some may say what about 

studying scripture, 

contemplative prayer,

spiritual community,

stiving for social justice, 

working for planetary survival

         as ways to 

mystical union with God?

The answer is, for sure.

They all lead to, support,

flow from 

     LIVED IMMEDIACY

         WITH GOD

That happens out here on

the street of everyday life,

face to face with God as we are

face to face with those in need.

We're so close and busy with 

      LIVING GOD LOVE

that we just don't have time 

         for anxiety. 

This is not to say that 

just everything will be 

honky dory, pain free,

smooth going on Easy Lane.

           No way

Empire is making hell.

It hurts big time bad.

Hurt is one thing.

Useless anxiety is another.

We get to start heaven 

in the midst of hell. 

      ******

           

        WELCOME ALL

               to

       frankly speaking

   spirituality for the street

johnfrankshares.blogspot.com

      This week we were 

      joined and blessed 

      by many new folks.

         Thank You!

           ******

NEXT ONLINE POSTING

Tuesday morning/afternoon

East Coast USA time

April 15, 2025

NEXT EMAIL DELIVERY

Friday

April 18, 2025

           ******

See you next week.

Love to all.

God Bless,

John Frank

 

                    

                                             

 

YES

Dear All of Us, 

So, guess what?

Well, that's not really a question.

It's a lead in to me blowing off a bit. 

You see, I just spent 

the whole darn morning 

writing a long, big, fat,

bloated blog piece 

all about our 

    spiritual life. 

 It's a mess mass of 

      words.

     EKKKS!!

     ******

             LATER

Thanks for letting me word 

my frustration with 

this morning's word overload.

After prayer and a nap

here's a new go at it. 

       ******

 

Actually, our spiritual life is 

a beautifully simple matter.

       ONE WORD 

          does it.

 Our whole spiritual life 

        in a word is

            YES

  Our whole spiritual life 

            is a 

           Lived

            YES 

             to 

        God Good

 practical and personal

Watch out, though. 

Sad too much 

so called spirituality

words us to death

as I started to do 

this morning. 

It piles on

a dump truck of 

  "Have To's" 

      and 

"Don't You Dares,"

worries us down.

It wares the 

liv'n heck out of us.

We have to 

figure out and do 

a heaven of a lot 

to get there and 

avoid a hell of a lot more

to not go there.

It's decidedly 

an overtime job X2.

Well, we're just not up to it.

It's like an electrical cord 

stressing for the output 

of a generator.

Better put, the wonderous word 

of the spiritual life is that 

   God is in a Love Burst,

   God is branching out 

     all over the place

   We call it Creation.

          God is 

    Self-Expressing

      Love Making

  proteins to planets, 

  tulips to Grand Tetons.

            And 

        most of all

God passionately wants 

     to self-express,

       to expand 

 as us and through us.

 All we have to do is 

         live a

         YES

  God takes care 

    of the rest.

God not only supplies the energy,

God is the energy and the Reality

  that we can be and do in our

  unique, personal, human way. 

       God wants to be 

       person present 

             in us

          through us,

          in person 

   in the persons we are.

  (Yes, that's repetitious.

   May it add emphasis

   to what God wants

   and we need notice!)

As many here know, 

my favorite most parable 

is John 15:1-8. 

Jesus offers to be our life

and to be fruitful through us:

     "I am the vine and 

      you are the branches...

      This is my father's glory, 

      that you bear much fruit"

      

In other words, Jesus is asking

     can I happen as you,

     can I love you to life in my life,

     can I be personal and present 

           in you and through you,

                can I be 

           the unique body, 

           personality, 

           gifts and abilities,

           soul and psyche 

           I so want to be for you 

           and through you 

           for others?

           Can we be so close

           that we are 

           paradoxically,

           actually,

           Two In One

        Separately Same 

                 

God wants to be 

placed and personal 

          to 

     particular 

people and places,   

those in our zone 

    through us.

To rework that homey, 

hooky image above, 

God is the generator and 

we are the electrical cord.

God is our current and 

we are God's 

connectors/conduits.

God electrifies, 

powers us and

through us.

     Our lived 

        YES 

means things like:

We let God be intimate 

to our deepest selves 

in prayer.

We delight with union

in God and 

with all of God's 

people and Creation.

We rejoice in our uniqueness.

We open wide to God 

surging through us: 

  - in the oneness of 

     that mystical union

  - giving us right and real 

    direction in life  

  - in our spiritual 

    sensitivities and practices

  - in voting, investing 

    our conscience 

    not our pocketbook 

    or privilege

  - in being patient with 

    the loudmouth at

   (work, church, a party,...)

  - in having enough and 

    sharing all the rest

 (admonition of St. Augustine)   

  - in being serious without being 

    stone cold sober somber,

  - in being easy, lightsome 

    without being 

    flighty feather fluffy,

  - in helping to clear 

    the dinner table 

    when we feel like 

    heading for 

    the lounge chair

  - in changing a particularly 

    repugnant diaper

  - in deep community 

    as a church

  - in buying and using 

    environmentally 

    just products

  - in fully applying 

    ourselves at work

  - in using and sharing 

    our particular 

    talents and abilities for 

    The Common Good:

    hospitality, coaching, 

    mentoring, organizing, 

    writing, leading, 

    sharing gifts that are 

    musical, intellectual, artistic, 

    athletic, spiritual, financial,

    crafts and trades,

    sponsoring/supporting 

    social justice efforts ...

God is a Love Surge.

God craves Oneness 

       with us.

There are people and places 

where God wants to plug in 

    and energize 

and that through us.

 What do we say?

May it be a robust, 

vigorous, wholly

   Love Lived

       YES 

     ******

   FURTHERENCE

"I live now not I, 

 but Christ lives in me."

   Galatians 2:20

What are the 

personal and practical 

implications of this 

for each of us and

for our spiritual community?

           ******

Speaking of Spiritual Surge

It's been another week with 

many, many new folks

joining in with us here at

     frankly speaking

        There's been 

     a significant surge

              from 

     The Netherlands

Welcome groups and individuals 

        from around our

   GLOBAL NEIGHBERHOOD

       OUR NEXT POSTING

   Tuesday morning/afternoon

    East Coast USA time

    April 8, 2025

      

   OUR NEXT EMAIL DELIVERY

   Friday

   April 11, 2025

LAST FIVE POSTINGS AVAILABLE

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             this posting

       Great to be together.

         Have a good week.

             Love to all.

             God Bless,

             John Frank

         frankly speaking

   spirituality for the street

johnfrankshares.blogspot.com

            ******