Dear All of Us,
Our little
GRAND SON
OLLIE
is now four -
bright, loving,
active,
interested,
interesting.
Quite a kid,
but then
I'm
totally
impartial!
The other bedtime
our daughter
read to Ollie from
an illustrated
Children's Bible.
Ollie had
questions and concerns:
"Are Adam and Eve
wearing underwear?"
"What's a flood?"
"Did baby Moses
get back to his
mommy and daddy?"
"What are those things
(cuts from the nails)
on Jesus' feet and hands?"
"Why were they
so mean to Jesus?"
Can't help
but love that kid!!!
He's a great spiritual coach.
Kids are quite something.
They sure are for Jesus.
Jesus says kids are how
we need to grow down/up to be:
At about the same time,
the disciples
came to Jesus asking,
"Who gets the highest rank
in God's kingdom?"
For an answer
Jesus called over
a child,
whom he stood
in the middle
of the room, and said,
"I'm telling you,
once and for all,
that unless you return
to square one and
start over like children,
you're not even
going to get a look
at the kingdom,
let alone get in.
Whoever becomes
simple and elemental
again, like this child,
will rank high
in God's kingdom.
What's more,
when you receive
the childlike
on my account,
it's the same as
receiving me.
Matthew 18:1-5
The Message
Pardon me if
I'm a little
preachy-pushy here,
but we just must
go back over that
"again for the first time."
Speed read here
bypasses, misses,
Jesus by miles.
Let's look-listen as if
our life depended on it
BECAUSE IT DOES!
That's not an exaggeration.
It's the God's honest truth
straight from Jesus.
We read this again,
not fussing that
we've heard all this
umpteen times before.
Rather, we listen afresh.
What is Jesus
actually saying here
and what does that
say about us now and
about our forever?
TIME FOR
A PRAYERFUL LISTENING
"Speak Lord
for your servant
listens"
with
head, heart, soul
1 Samual 3:9
******
LATER
Some things
it's important
to consider:
- The disciples were
all puffed up
wanting their
hot air ballons
to be one and more
over others.
Jesus popped their billons.
- Jesus said it straight.
The disciples had it
wrong side up
and needed to come
down to earth
to get up right.
- In Jesus time and place
children were a footnote
in the social register,
easily and usually
overlooked.
Jesus says
"Take another look."
- Children have it right.
They are
at square one
simply elemental
and that's were
the disciples needed
to be and start over.
- The way
the disciples were
wouldn't-couldn't fly,
certainly not to heaven.
Jesus is unequivocal.
As is, the disciples
won't even get
a quick look at
The Kingdom of God,
much less get in.
Pretty strong stuff!
Worth more than a
nod notice.
And so
what about us?
Are we ready to change,
to get back to square one
like children and start over,
simple and elemental?
Those are
the last things that
our get ahead,
take charge,
self-made,
accumulate and
count on it
to set you up for
success and standing,
culture ranks tops.
(Poor sentence structure
about
our pitiably poor culture).
Put otherwise,
Jesus calls us to be
countercultural.
Are we?
That
does not mean
to live in
abject poverty
and that in
a playpen of
infantile immaturity.
It does mean
to live, well,
like a child
simple
and
elemental,
pliable in the
nurture of
God Love.
That way
God can
play with us,
get us playing
with all sorts of
people,
places,
experiences,
drawing us all
into
Kid-dom living.
We'll have a ball
sharing in
God's imagination,
together freely active
in Creation a fresh.
That's real "free play"!
We can only do this
freed from being
weighted down
by a lot of baggage:
- stuff
- strut
That frees for
simplicity,
spontaneity,
able to frolic,
happy in free play,
ready to let God
take the lead
and get us in on
the joyful life
that is the
Kid-dom of
God Good.
With glee
and gladness
we welcome
into our play
others childlike,
as Jeus said.
We'll do all this
where we are.
What will change
is how we are
where we are.
We'll be in loving
community
living the life,
the spirit and joy,
of Jesus.
With him and
each other
we will be busy
redeeming, reframing
the fouled and failed.
It'll be a new order.
We will relish in simple,
elemental things like
a good meal and
delight in a good friend.
It will free us for
putting the downed
back up on their feet,
making an art
of everything from
doing the dishes
to energetic
cooperation at work.
We'll be freed from
the folly of trying
to be our own god
and the horror
of stressing
to create ourselves in
the image and likeness
of fake and foul Empire.
We'll be real and really
in touch with God and
God's goodness
all about us,
people and place,
in a healing,
supportive,
creative way.
We will be lifted to
mystical intimacy
in the embrace of
Abba
and not consider it
unusual.
Reading Jesus right
God can grow us
God's way,
happy and loving
just like
my four-year-old
spiritual coach
Ollie
simple and elemental
It's all so wondrously
CHILD RIGHT
truly
THE KID-Dom
OF GOD
******
WELCOME
each and all.
THANKS
for this chance to be
Kid-dom
together.
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Thanks to all!
Have a good week.
Let's keep it
"simple and elemental"
so God can grow us
real and loveward.
That Love to all.
God Bless,
John Frank
frankly speaking
spirituality for the street
johnfrankshares.blogspot.com
******
Jesus can't either.
Kids are
front and center,
A#1,
prime people
for
Jesus
Jesus tells us that
kids have it right
and we need
to change
and be
just like them.
"I tell you the truth,
unless you change and
become like little children,
you will never enter
the kingdom of heaven."
Matthew 18:3
Let's hear that again for the first time.
to get right.
Jesus tells us
and to be right we need to be like the.
to grow up to be kids!!
Jesus flat out tells us
we need to be kids
not only in heart,
but in
Kids model Jesus' message.
The kingdom of heaven
belongs to them
AND THEM ALONE
That's something
not to kid around about
Ever
At all
Sorry to be so blunt,
but let's cut to the chase.
After all is said and done,
more particularly
and pointedly,
when we are all said and done,
done as in dead,
do we really want
to go to heaven,
as in
REALLY?
