Dear All of Us,
Grand Pa me
wants to tell
dear all of you
the latest
Ollie-ism
For those new here
Ollie
is my five-year-old
GRAND SON
and is he ever!
The other day:
"Mommy, you are
the best Mommy
in the whole world,
except when
you make me
go to bed."
Why ever
would I start
a "spirituality" blog
with a simple
Soul Smile Story?
Simply because
we all need to
LIGHTEN UP
Our world
and too much
our spirits
are
sober stark dark.
Sure,
the world is
a sorry mess
with mess more
at the door.
Dangerous Dark
And surest of all:
"I am the
world's light.
No one who
follows me
stumbles around
in the darkness.
I provide
plenty of light
to live in." (1)
In it, life is a go
and the
Light
overcomes
the darkness. (2)
That
LIGHT
wants to
ignite
us:
"We're here
to be light,
bringing out the
God-good colors
in the world.
God is not
a secret
to be kept.
We're going
public with this,
as public as
a city on a hill.
If I make you
light-bearers,
you don't think
I'm going
to hide you
under a bucket,
do you?
I'm putting you
on a light stand.
Now that
I've put you
there on a hilltop,
on a light stand -
shine!
Keep open house;
be generous
with your lives.
By opening up
to others,
you'll prompt people
to open up with God
your generous Father
in heaven." (3)
Time Out!!
Let's stop here.
Let's give Jesus
a real listen,
let him
get us
to really
LIGHTEN UP.
I urge this
because
so many
church people,
so many
spirituality sorts,
are stymied still,
despondent,
in a dark world.
I gotta tell you,
it's both
liberals and
conservatives
hanging out in
shadows dreadful -
Downer Dons,
Depressed Donnas:
"It's just so awful."
"They'll make us all
communist."
"They're hell bent on
forcing fascism."
"Will the grid give?"
"The supply chain
is snapping."
"This AI borrowing is a
balloon of delusion
about to burst us broke."
"Billions upon billions
for wars that
don't work while
millions upon millions
starve, suffer and die."
"AI is poising to take over
everything and everyone,
if not even turn off
the lights altogether."
"The world
is going to hell
in a basket!'
Sure it is!
Empire is imploding.
Danger and suffering
drag dark to
Main Street.
And that's exactly
where
The Light
of the World
wants to shine
right bright
through us.
Quite frankly
it is time for us
to move from
fret to faith,
to actually warm
to Jesus,
"I provide plenty
of light to live in." (4)
I more than realize
that my words here
are hard and
uncompromising.
But brothers and sisters,
we need to get off
the couch of
dark desperation
and walk in the
Light of the World.
So,
PLEASE,
right now
all of us,
let's go back to the
Light Language
of Jesus quoted above.
Jesus is talking to us.
How do we hear unto
ENLIGHTENMENT?
A PAUSE
We prayerfully ponder
the words of Jesus above.
WE CONTINUE
Dark there is
and will be.
Light there is
and can be.
We can't count on
money, military,
markets, governments,
any branch of Empire.
Jesus needs us
to get his light shining
on main Street:
"You're here
to be light...
We're going public
with this...
SHINE" (5)
We defy the dark
and live the light.
We model our living
on the words and ways
of Jesus.
We dedicate
ourselves
to sharing
rather than
to excessive
accumulation.
We delight in
God given diversity -
like God we relish
every kind of flower
in humanity's
varied garden.
We let little children's
kid talk tickle us free.
We nurture Nature,
house plants to
environmental
respect and protection.
We let the Holy Spirit
form our words and
fashion our lifestyles.
As members of
The Body of Christ
we are vigorously active in
our spiritual communities.
In our sphere we meet
The Son of Man
by finding ways to:
feed the hungry,
(starved for attention)
quench thirst,
(desperate for a break)
inviting in the stranger,
(befriending a foreigner)
clothing the naked,
(sharing our closet)
looking after the sick,
(staying close to a
depressed friend)
visiting the imprisoned
(helping a coworker
break a work addiction)
(6)
We are plugged tight into
contemplative seeing
and divine intimacy,
and it sure will
SHINE
as we
LIGHTEN UP
******
"All the darkness
in the world
cannot extinguish
the light of
a single candle"
Francis of Assisi
(1) John 8:12
The Message
Translation
(2) John 1:4
(3) Matthew 5:14-16
(4) John 8:12
The Message
Translation
(5) Matthew 5: 14-16
(6) Matthew 25: 34-36
The Message
Translation
Hope I got this right.
I'm not a numbers guy.
Gave it five redo's!!
Patience appreciated
A WARM WELCOME
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EVERY GOODNESS
SEE YOU NEXT WEEK
LOVE TO ALL
GOD BLESS
JOHN FRANK
frankly speaking
spirituality for the street
johnfrankshares.blogspot.com
******
