Friends,
Again, this week
it is necessary
to post a bit early.
CIAO
******
Dear All of Us,
"How do you
get there
from here?"
Well, here in
Washington, DC,
not the way
we used to.
The Metro
bus lines
have been
reconfigured
and
recalibrated.
There are fewer
bus stops
and a
much modified
schedule.
The goal is
to get where
you are going
more directly
with less delay
and
less go round
and
cut Metro costs.
To do that
meant a major
REROUTE
For our
personal and shared
spiritual lives
it's definitely
same such.
Over time a major
REROUTE
is more than in order
to get where we are going.
Destination
best directs it.
For us that is
full and vigorous life
in
The Kin Domain of God
The routes are
simple, clear and direct.
Jesus maps them out
for us
in the
Beatitudes
and the rest of the
Sermon on the Mount.
Matthew 5-7
At times we and our
spiritual communities
need a reset to
those directions
and of how we
understand
and
respond
so there is less
delay and go round.
Reconfiguration
and
Recalibration
mean a
definite and effective
REROUTE
We don't get there
the way we used to.
We want to bypass
dead stops
where
structures of
thought and practice
that are "about" God
or
that are mostly
belonging groups,
somewhat the equivalent
of a churchy
Kiwanis or Elks Clubs,
have been established.
Such stops stealing the name
Church
have stalled us in
ideologies, structures,
polities, practices,
rituals
and
real estate
that are not
pervasively about
being and living
as Jesus offers.
We don't want to be
"about" God.
We want to be
"in" God
and live out that
center and goodness.
To be real and effective
means to be
experiential, committed,
personally and communally
Yes, many most
"churches"
do a lot of good:
food pantries,
scouts,
social services,
thrift shops,
justice advocacy,
schools,
cultural offerings.
Essentially and
qualitatively, though,
such are also the staple
of many other
societal entities -
The Red Cross, ACLU,
community food pantries,
local recreational
and cultural groups.
The sober sadness
is that most
"churches"
don't present
as all that different,
as a group profoundly
centered and alive
in the
Kin Domain of God
as
joyfully and really
all in
and
distinctly disciples.
Again, yes there are
for real
disciples and saints
in many "churches".
That is markedly not
the case, though,
with the group as a whole.
The exception proves
the delinquent rule.
Jesus gives us a
movement
not a
monument.
When we
"go to church"
it is not a building
or
institution.
It is
Ecclesia
"The Gathered"
a face to face
life with life
interactive lived love
of
God's Love.
We are close
in a
small community.
We pray, share The Word,
take care of each other
and the needy in our area,
be a Holy Communion,
live a simple lifestyle,
work for social justice,
open wide to God's embrace
in prayer and oneness
with all Creation.
That is what so many crave
and do not find in local
"churches"
God language/symbols are there.
God experience expansive is not,
nor are the masses who are
so spiritually starved.
Personally, we
REROUTE
bypassing bygone
understandings
and
practices
for ever deeper the dive
into mystical intimacy
as God draws us ONE.
We practically, actually,
communally,
live the Gospel
just as Jesus offers it.
That gets
more and more radical
in the best sense
of the term
(L) radix = root
as we spiritually
mature, mellow,
merge
ONE
To be painfully frank,
Jesus has gotten bypassed
and terribly misrepresented
by so too much of the
institutional church.
An example.
From my study here
(I call it The Shop)
I can see
The National Cathedral.
It is a masterpiece of
magnificent art
and
architecture.
A few years ago
the rector noted that
it took $17,000 a day
to run it.
As a building
and cultural center,
it is superlative.
Reading the Gospels,
well, those
Gospel blueprints
are not obvious
in the rendering.
It just is not church,
"The Gathered"
in full fledged
Kingdom Coming
Community.
It is impressive culture
wrapped in medieval splendor.
Spiritually, it is antithetical
to the simplicity, purity and
community
that Jesus lived,
said, gives, invites.
Jesus is hard to find there,
the actual, real, live,
Jesus
A huge swath of people
can't find him either,
there or
in most "churches"
such as they are.
Masses are
spiritually homeless.
Across the globe there is
a soul screaming need
for God Goodness,
for genuine spirituality,
for religion pure and simple.
That cry is not being heard
nor answered by comfy,
casual, compromised,
cafeteria
Christianity.
It's not so much that
all those spiritually orphaned
are missing the bus.
They are taking
a pass because
they know
the institutional
church bus
isn't really going
anywhere near
Kingdom Spiritual.
Bonhoffer warmed of
"cheap grace"
It is a phony token.
It gets us a ride nowhere.
Hopefully we are
wise and ready enough
not to shortchange the ride,
by getting off the bus at
stops
that spiritually stop us.
"How do we get there
from here?"
Individually and together
it's more than a good idea
to
REROUTE
******
A PERSONAL NOTE
For many the above
is hard to read.
That's for sure.
I assure that it
has been hard
to write.
Dealing personally with
the whole concern
has been a
significant struggle
for me in these
my late last years.
I worked seventy
to eighty hours a week
way well over half a century
as a pastor in the
institutionalized church.
I know of what I speak.
I care deeply.
I recognize a lot
of misdirection,
I call myself and
all of us to
to purer and
more actual
spiritual life.
Looking at a typical church
what do we see?
How many people
actually know each other,
deeply care about each other?
How many and much
are most people
deliberately living
a simple and
modest lifestyle?
How many and much
live the guidance of
Jesus:
"Do not store up
for yourself
treasures on earth...
But store up
for yourself
treasures in heaven...
for where
your treasure is,
there your heart
will also be" ?
Matthew 6:19-21
How real and practical are
the community's welcome
and care for the
local last, lost, least?
Can those whose
political persuasions
are bright red
or bright blue
respect and embrace,
live and work together
deeper than their ideologies?
How much of the community's
focus, attention, time and money
go to institutional maintenance?
How intergenerational
and gimmick free are
the community's
worship and activities?
If we spend a week with
The Beatitudes and
The Sermon on the Mount
how much of it is
evident and actual
in attitude
and atmosphere,
translated in current
and contemporary
practice and action:
significant salt
and bright light,
anger management,
lust and love,
divorce and oaths,
patient response
to attack or demand,
actually loving enemies,
unostentatious
giving, prayer, fasting,
being worry free
and nonjudgmental,
trustfully asking God,
entering the Kingdom
through it's narrow gate,
watching out for
spiritual phonies,
judging by fruit
not claim,
putting Jesus' word
to practice on
rock solid foundation.
Put simply,
if Jesus showed up
at our church
would he
recognize himself
alive and well there?
If so, Praise Good!
If not, what are we
going to do about it?
******
Thanks to all stopping by
for a first-time visit with us.
NEXT ONLINE POSTING
Tuesday morning/afternoon
East Coast USA time
June 17, 2025
NEXT EMAIL DELIVERY
Friday
June 20,2025
LAST FIVE POSTINGS
AVAILABLE
by
scrolling down
beneath
this posting.
Truckloads
of
Thanks
to everyone
who is sharing
frankly speaking
with others.
You are our
one and only
Circulation
Department.
Great being together here.
Have good week.
Love to all.
God Bless,
John Frank
frankly speaking
spirituality for the street
johnfrankshares.blogspot.com
******
