TOUGH STUFF

  

          This is the eighth in our

              Fall Series

         FOLLOW THROUGH

              living out

   The Sermon On The Mount

              ******

Whether there is snow where we live or not, 

these next two posting will mean 

"heavy shedding" for all of us.

We will be working our way through

drifts of difficulty - understanding aright

and embracing fully what are for most

the most difficult dimensions of

Jesus's call to discipleship.

The realness and viability of

our spiritual lives depends on 

making it through to clarity and embrace.

Happily we can count on The Holy Spirit 

for stamina and perseverance.

                  ******

Dear All of Us,

I don't know how it goes with you,

but for me The Bible can often be a 

           Rough Read

              really

         TOUGH STUFF:

 - Psalm 137:9 

  Smash the heads of your enemies' babies 

  against a rock -

  So much for respect life!

- Book of Joshua

  Turns out that the Promised Land

  was already peopled and

  God had them evicted so 

  the Israelites could move in -

  The locals are still soar about it!

- Numbers 26 and Matthew 1 

  Mile long genealogies and head counts -

        "Enough already!" 

  with all these ancient analytics and  

  actuarial rollouts 

- Exodus 25 - 40

  Encyclopedic, repetitive ritual regulations -

  makes the Methodist Book of Discipline 

  and the Roman Code of Canon Law

  look like simple little manuals 

  on how to change a tire

- I Samuel 15:3 

 "Now go and attack Amalek, and utterly destroy 

  all that they have; do not spare them, 

  but kill both men and women, child and infant, ..." -

  Hey, that's genocide! 

- Genesis 19: 30-38

  Lot's two daughters get Daddy drunk 

  two nights in a row and take turns 

  having sex with their father -

  Definitely not a go for The Hallmark Channel,

  much less a children's religious education class . 

 

                 Rough Reads!

Now in all fairness scripture needs to be read

in terms of its time, place, culture, 

the consciousness level of its people and writers,

the customs current, the literary forms of then, 

and a ton more elements that factor into 

what is written, how it is written and 

what the basic meaning was and is for all its form.

Scripture is nothing close to a pulp novel written 

by someone in Peoria for pleasure reading.

For all of the above the read is often  

              TOUGH STUFF

           The roughest of the

              TOUGH STUFF

  for me is right here where we are 

             in this series on

           FOLLOW THROUGH

                living out 

       The Sermon On The Mount 

       That's Matthew 5:38-48.

Now, I'm all in for the rest of it.

The Golden Rule, well, OK, most days anyway.

I get it and go with it about

 - anger, lust, divorce, judging,

 - not grandstanding at public prayer, 

   almsgiving, or fasting,

 - a simple yes or no 

   to truth telling,

 - making sure both heart and treasure 

   are in the same right place,

 - and all the wonderful rest.

In all conflicted honesty, though, I choke at 

           Matthew 5:38-48.

    I'm pretty sure I'm not alone.

So, let's go over this together.

Let's be completely Soul Sensitive.

Let's be totally Soul Honest.

Right now and right here let's face Jesus.

Let's see Jesus looking us right in the eye 

and saying to us:

  

   "Here's another old saying

    that deserves a second look:

   'Eye for eye, tooth for tooth.'

    Is that going to get us anywhere?

    Here's what I propose:

   'Don't hit back at all.'

    If someone strikes you,

    stand there and take it.

    If someone drags you 

    into court and sues for 

    the shirt off your back,

    gift wrap your best coat 

    and make a present of it.

    And if someone takes 

    unfair advantage of you,

    use the occasion 

    to practice the servant life.

    No more tit-for-tat stuff.

    Live generously.

       Matthew 5:38-42

         The Message

 

Hey, come on now, Jesus!! 

You want us to be 

human punching bags?

This is more than a bit much!!

Well, Jesus does "come on now"

and that with more, much more, 

        TOUGH STUFF !!

   "You're familiar with the old written law,

    'Love your friend,' 

     and its unwritten companion,

    'Hate your enemy.'

     I'm challenging that.

     I'm telling you to love your enemies.

     Let them bring out the best in you,

     not the worst.  

     When someone gives you a hard time, 

     respond with the energies of prayer,

     for then you are working out of your true selves,

     your God-created selves.

     This is what God does.

     He gives his best - the sun to warm

     and the rain to nourish - everyone, regardless:

     the good and the bad, the nice and the nasty.

     If all you do is love the lovable, 

     do you expect a bonus? Anybody can do that.

     If you simply say hello to those who greet you,

     do you expect a medal?

     Any run-of-the-mill sinner does that.

     In a word, what I'm saying is, Grow up.

     You're kingdom subjects. Now live like it. 

     Live out your God-crated identity.

     Live generously and graciously toward others,

     the way God lives toward you.

                    Matthew 5:43-48

                      The Message

Well, there you have it. And so do I. But do we?

Can we buy in? Our spiritual lives,

us being disciples, are at stake here.

It's simply a "no go" to be a 

        Cafeteria Christian

when it comes to what Jesus serves up: 

      "I'll have one of these, 

       but I'll take a pass on those."

    Yet and Yes, this really is 

           TOUGH STUFF

So let's go back over all this very slowly

in the coming week. That will highlight 

where/how we are with this 

           TOUGH STUFF

It will also prime us for next week

when we will dig deep to get 

the real sense and scope 

of what Jesus says about 

retaliation and reaction to enemies,

those who hurt us one way or many.

So, let's apply each utterance of Jesus here 

to the worst/hardest case scenarios 

in our personal, church, national and international,

real life social/soul settings.

Let's "get it down on paper,' or if better for you,

on a spread sheet.

We need to one way or another

spell it out so we can get a real read

on where we are with Jesus and 

his way of responding to the painful bastards 

in our private and shared life.

Of course that is not gentile,

Church Ladies Aid Society talk.

       It is tough talk about the 

           TOUGH STUFF

        Jesus says about the 

          TOUGH STUFF

with which we have to deal, 

for example, whatever 

our political persuasions, indeed 

our political passions, in these 

divided, anxious, angry times.

Under each phrase of Jesus we catalogue 

our questions, conflicts, resistance.

Given that kind of sheer, stark, encounter,

      how do we do with this

         TOUGH STUFF ?

      Are we really ready to

       FOLLOW THROUGH

  actually, practically, living out

          this section of 

  The Sermon On The Mount -

    not resisting the evildoer,

      loving our enemies?

Or is all this too high a "Mount" for our climb?

And what about our establishment churches?

What about our social circle?

What about our business and work settings?

What about our sports and entertainment choices?

What about our judicial/penal system?

What about our military stance?

What about politics just now?

Can we see people through the political smog choking us,

see children of God, see brothers and sisters

with the same divine presence and DNA 

at their core as ours even if 

we are offended/hurt by them?

What about social justice issues - racial strife, 

income disparity, excessive incarceration, immigration?

What about environmental matters?

What about militarism and international concerns?

What about red and blue not allowing 

a white of respect, civility, cooperative compromise 

                       for the

                  COMMON GOOD

                  and making it a 

                Red, WHITE and Blue 

                         USA

The scripture scholars peg these words of Jesus as

                  "ipsissima verba",

                   "the very words" 

                   of Jesus.

They are not the work of later Gospel writers 

ascribing words to Jesus based on their lived experience 

and that of the early church -

perfectly proper literary form in those days.

This is Jesus verbatim. Are we listening?

Will we hear him? Let's be real about that 

and not try to explain him away.

That would only separate us, distance us as disciples,

from following Jesus, from 

          FOLLLOWING  THROUGH

               on living out 

      The Sermon On The Mount

Let's be real in hearing what Jesus says 

and about where we are with that so far.

And let's be sensitive to ourselves and our

                  "so far."

          It may indeed be that

                  "so far"

we just can't hear it, much less start to live it.

God is patient with us as we grow.

We do well to share in that patience.

So, let's do our best to sense, to catch on 

to what and why Jesus is after in all this

and where we come down with him

                   "so far"

Hey, this sounds like a lot of homework

             - rough sledding -

for the coming week. Sorry about that.

Actually, though, all this is more

               Heart Work.

Let's have at it, pray and ponder,

and then we'll pick up here again next week.

We need to first honestly face the 

             ROUGH STUFF

and our actual, operative response.

Then we can begin to hear anew

the hard truth and beauty of what Jesus invites.

Anything short of that is sadly spiritual self delusion. 

Next week we will try to plow through 

the drifts of difficulty, dig deep, chip through

granite of our confusion, fear, our "so far,"

and strike it rich, discovering the seam of gold

in what Jesus says, invites and offers

as we understand it anew and life it freely. 

                   Your fellow 

                "Wanna Be But"

                    Disciple,

                 John Frank

                   ******

    

 Greetings to all our first time visitors.

 How wonderful this week to welcome

 large groups of you from 

         France and Russia.

 We appreciate your company

           a whole lot!!

             ******

   "frankly speaking"

spirituality for the street

- is posted Thursdays 

  by mid-day

  east coast USA time

  johnfrankshares.blogspot.com

- there is automatic email delivery

  on Fridays

  sign up above top right

- past postings are at

  Blog Archive

  right column above

          ******

         Good luck 

 roughing it out with the

      TOUGH STUFF.

        this week,

  with plowing through.

  Next week's sharing 

    will build on it

  and hopefully get us 

  to the heart of what 

  Jesus is reveling here.

  We'll have to dig for it,

  and dig we will!!

         ******

        

   

 

 

 

 

   

 

 

WORRY FREED

                                            

     This is the seventh in our

              Fall Series

          FOLLOW THROUGH

              living out

    The Sermon On The Mount

               ******

     Given the givens just now, 

     many of which we'd be 

     more than happy 

     to give a heave 

     but simply cannot,

     our sequence here 

     this week is altered.

     

     Those givens have a lot of us 

     worried sick, tied up in 

     restraining knots of worry.

     So this week we skip ahead to

     Matthew 6:25 -34 and focus on 

     worry and finding a freeing forth. 

                  ******

     

   

                                    Written         

                              November 9, 2020

Dear All of Us,

Here in Washington, DC this morning 

it is beautiful, clear, colorful  - autumn ideal.

Here in Washington, DC this morning

it is frightful, conflicted, dangerous -

dreadfully far from ideal.

The atmosphere is choked 

with a pandemic resurgence, 

economic jeopardy, culture war, 

a presidential transition that is 

neither presidential nor transitional,

but is constitutionally threatening,

concerns that the reactions and rhetoric 

may result in riot.

Here in Washington, DC 

it is Monday morning,

time to start this week's piece on

"spirituality for the street" 

 and to do so

"frankly speaking." 

Is it even worth a try?

So much is flashing at us so fast.

Will all this need to be 

revised and rewritten

before posting Thursday morning?

Well, you know what?

I'm not going to worry about it!

Way better, I'm going 

to write about being

    WORRY FREED

It's critical to note that 

there's a vast difference 

between being freed from 

debilitating worry 

and fearlessly facing 

the strain of responsible 

concern and action.

The two are interlaced.

We darn well better be  

concerned and responsive 

to the societal issues before us.

We darn well better work 

to be freed from worry 

that renders us personally, psychically, 

socially, spiritually disabled.

The emphasis here today

is on the latter.

Let's see what we can see about

not being worried soul sick

and find ways to be 

   WORRY FREED 

in a most stressful 

and worrisome time.

As noted, 

the turmoil of the times 

sure is tripping up 

all sorts of us 

in all sorts of 

negative ways.

Right at the top of 

that pile of peril is

      WORRY.

It robs many of 

a healthy spiritual freedom, 

imprisoning's them,

limiting then, 

restraining them 

in the grip of fearful worry.

They are anything but

     WORRY FREED

So let's face and feel both 

the perniciousness of fear and 

the power of freedom in Christ.

    "It was for freedom 

     that Christ set us free;

     therefore keep standing firm

     and do not be subject again

     to a yoke of slavery"

                           Galatians 5:1

Our spiritual freedom and growth 

start to set in when we find out 

that the facts of life are

way more than about sex.

The real facts of life are that 

        life is lovely 

           and 

    life can be lousy.

     We "be" in, 

     we go and grow 

     through both.

We don't want to miss the one 

worrying about the other.

We deal with both as they come,

not as they might come.

To see this we do well to look at 

the lovely and the lousy

as they both played out 

for growth and greatness

in the lived experience of

Mohammed, Buddha, Jesus,

Abraham Lincoln, Franklin D. Roosevelt,

Martin Luther King, C.S. Lewis

Gerard Manley Hopkins, Jung,

my mother and probably yours.

In large part life is like a card game.

We only win if we make the best of 

the hand we are dealt.

In life, as in cards, 

it all comes down to

how we react.

So we don't play it safe 

because that isn't safe.

Rather we savor to growth 

through all the love in life -

having a baby, 

getting lost in a Monet,

hiking The Appalachian Trail, 

good wine with good friends,

reading Richard Rohr and Thomas Merton,

a SoulYes to being mystically 

enwrapped in GodLove,

going to a Springsteen concert,

a Dicken's novel, 

culinary euphoria dining at 

Suzanne McCarthy's table...

We also man up/woman up to 

all the "lousies" in life

rather than sitting in the corner,

thump in mouth, 

stilled to stupor by worry -

a possible birth defect, 

a love that may fall through,

a potential financial bust,

pandemic peril, 

career frustrations,

health concerns, 

our country coming undone 

at the seams...

We live spiritually real and well

when we do so 

in a spirit that embraces 

with vigor and gusto the lovely,

and damn well refuses 

to be wasted by worry

about the lousy 

before it shows up.

As the lovely and the lousy

show up we go at each with 

matching vigor and gusto.

Worry is a fake out.

It gets us stalled, even stopped,

by fear of what might happen,

but hasn't happened.

It steals positive life energies

and is thus life denying.

It gets us preoccupied 

with what is not actual,

what is not here,

paralyzed by possibilities.

In the meantime we sit out,

miss out, on vigorous living,

on deepening and expanding of soul.

Worry is a sucker game of the devil.

Hey, if you're too sophisticated 

for the term devil, try

"counter creative vacuum."

Impressed??

When we cave to worry,

we miss the lovely, 

lose the verve to wrestle 

with the lousy when it does show up.

Yes, we will hurt in life.

But literally for God's sake, 

why hurt early and more 

than has to be by worrying about it

beforehand?

Worry is diabolical because it derails

the enterprise of growing through

the "lovelies" and the "lousies" of life.

It saps soul.

It wastes, it limits living.

It misdirects attention and energies 

from good to good for nothing.

Tell it to go to hell, 

right there with the devil,

aka "counter creative vacuum."

The older I get the bolder I get.

To wit, here's more than 

is usually shared in a public forum.

I'm eighty, have significant prostate problems,

nasty arthritis neck to hips that is always 

uncomfortable and regularly painful,

and an aortic aneurysm. 

I refuse to waste time, attention and energy

on what any or all of that 

might/may mean some day. 

So I take my prostate meds 

and don't worry about a maybe metastasis.

I keep on keeping on with a daily walk,

even as there's more and more shuffle to it

and less distance covered lately,

rather than worry about a day when 

wheels will be necessary.

I put my whole heart into the glories of life 

before me right now rather than worry about 

an aortic blow out and a fast transition to Next.

I'm here, not in the nowhere of worry.

Please note the double negative.

We know what that means, right?

Here's an uncomfortable but 

hard to miss analogy.

Let's not fall for the disfigurement 

of being a Worry Wart.

A face full of warts would keep 

a lot of folks indoors 

and missing much of life.

Being a Worry Wart disfigures 

our soul and how we face life.

It locks us in and living out.

Remember the wisdom that says:

"A coward dies a thousand deaths.

The brave person dies once."

Don't die off from full force living

by worrying a lot about something that 

is not in the right now, 

may never be so, 

and if it is someday we take the hit once,

not a thousand unnecessary and 

life stealing times.

I've taken a bunch of words to say this poorly.

In just a few wonderful words 

Jesus says it so well:

         "Give your entire attention

         to what God is doing right now,

         and don't get worked up about

         what may or may not happen tomorrow.

         God will help you deal with

         whatever hard things come

         when the time comes."

                                    Matthew 6:34

                 

                    WORRY FREED

                        sure is!!

               John Frank

                 ******

This week we have again been blessed 

with another large contingent of visitors 

from Portugal. A hearty welcome to you

and all our other first time visitors.

                  ******

                "frankly speaking"

        spirituality for the street

- is posted by mid-day Thursdays

  east coast USA time

  johnfrankshares.blogspot.com

- an automatic email edition 

  arrives each Friday

  sign up top right above

- all past posting are accessible from

  Blog Archive

  right column above.

                  ******

Here's  to our strength and stamina

in a tough and terrible time,

living the "lovelies" and the "lousies,"

             WORRY FREED

  **************************

     

    

 

 

RIGHT AT HOME

 

    This is the sixth in our 

           Fall Series

      FOLLOW THROUGH

           living out 

The Sermon On The Mount

            ******

Dear All of Us,

Here in Washington, DC, 

there are thousands of homeless people. 

They have little to no money at all.

Many sleep on the street,

a few just one block from where I live.

There are, though, many other and different 

homeless here in DC.

They make north of enough, 

some up to six figures, 

often way more.

They sleep in comfortable adequate 

to pricey luxurious digs.

Across the neighborhoods of living,

a lot of people are homeless in 

that latter manner.

They have housing, 

but just aren't at all at home 

with self and God, neighbor and nature.

Instead they dwell at the thin edges of

awareness and potential, 

distracted to dulled ennui.

There's yet another group of homeless.

They don't have any sort of 

a set, solid home base.

They move around a lot.

They locate in various states of

consciousness, values and practices,

seeking to be settled, 

wanting to be at home 

but are not all "home safe" 

anywhere near yet.

Happily, whatever our

circumstance and situation,

we all are invited to be 

deeply and completely 

   

    RIGHT AT HOME

  

   "Live in me.

    Make your home in me

    just as I do in you...

    I've loved you the way

    my Father has loved me.

    Make yourselves at home 

    in my love...

    I've told you these things

    for a purpose:

    that my joy might be your joy,

    and your joy wholly mature."

                JESUS

             John 15:4,9,11 

     

What an offer!

          DIVIVE DWELLING

          MOVE IN READY 

Price tag: 

          ACCEPTANCE

Move in date: 

         RIGHT NOW

Lease details: 

          THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT

         "When Jesus saw his ministry 

          drawing huge crowds,

          he climbed a hillside. 

          Those who were apprenticed 

          to him, the committed,

          climbed with him.

          Arriving at a quiet place, 

          he sat down and taught

          his climbing companions.

          This is what he said..."

              Matthew 5:1- 2  

        

What he said and says

to those who are "all in",

to his disciples then and now, 

is what we know as

The Sermon On The Mount.

One way and many it speaks 

the same simple truth:

      Live and act 

   from your Center.

       GOD/LOVE 

      abides there.

Jesus invites us to be 

right at home in him. 

     "Live in me."

Jesus is already at home in us 

and invites us to come on in, 

invites is to join him there.

    "Make your home in me 

     just as I do in you."

Jesus loves us as the Father loves him - 

that's a lot of love!

Actually it's love without limit - 

good reason to hurry on home!

     "I've loved you the way 

      my Father has loved me."

Jesus is "move in ready" for us.

     " Make yourselves 

       at home in my love."

Jesus tells us why he shares all this.

       "I've told you these things

        for a purpose:

        that my joy might be your joy, 

        and your joy 

        may be wholly mature."

What we most crave,

that for which we were created,

that which is our fulfillment 

        - divine union - 

dwells, is centered, at our Center 

          - GodLove -

We really need to be there as well!!

Then from that home base

we live out GodLove

here on the streets of everyday life.

We live it from our deepest inside 

all the way out, in full bore, practical 

living and loving.

All the particulars of 

The Sermon On The Mount

are eminently practical, 

lived expressions of pure 

          GodLove 

and that right from our Center.

The energy, the dynamic, the thrust,

is Good/God flowing through us.

We don't create the energy.

We simply can't.

But we can accept it.

Of course that can only happen 

if we are there at The Center,

at home, "abiding" in God/Good

and not out on that 

thin edge of reality,

stuck in faux living,

not flipping houses 

of consciousness, 

values and practice.

So we spend time,

we lavish attention,

on Jesus and life 

at home in him.

We do this through 

presence, prayer 

and meditation -

  Heart Huddle.

The Sermon On The Mount

is a blueprint for 

vigorously living "out"

our "in home" life as disciples.

See the sequence

( Matthew 5:1 - 7:27 ).

It highlights:

   - eight attitudes/stances/approaches

     to blessed/happy living

   - being a beacon to Kingdom living,

     making a noticeable difference

     as salt of the earth, 

     light of the world

   - peaceful love beyond anger

   - purity beyond lust

   - constancy beyond divorce

   - simple truth beyond talked contrivance

   - enemy embrace beyond retaliation

   - people love beyond 

     enemy limits and lines

   - quiet, no frills sharing

   - praying as Dad Time

   - two directional forgiveness

   - freshened fasting

   - heavenly treasure trove

   - eye bright for the light

   - worry free aliveness

   - judgement free times two

   - sacred safeguarded

   - just ask lavishness

   - other and self - the same,

     The Gold Standard

   - GPS precision,

      Road Right Living

   - product speaks producer

   - Will Do Doing

   - rock solid base

The Sermon On The Mount

isn't just a Jesus transcript 

folded into the Bible.

It's a living, right now 

walk through with Jesus

on how to live out 

from our Center,

on how to abide in Him,

be at home in Him,

and then with/in Him

hit the streets of everyday life.

as his disciples living Love

in the attitudes and actions 

of our daily life.

The Sermon On The Mount

is Jesus being 

   Life Coach 

for us, we who are

the "apprenticed,

the "committed,"

his "climbing companions."

No matter our neighborhood or income,

Jesus invites us to move on in with him

and be

           RIGHT AT HOME.

            With much love,

           Your home mate,

               John Frank

                ******

All the scripture quotations today 

are drawn from The Message.

                ******

       Thanks and Welcome

    to all our first time visitors.

      This week we enjoyed

       a substantial uptick

from first timers right here in the USA.

     It's great to team up with you.

                ******

Please continue to let others know 

of our togetherness each week here at

          "frankly speaking" 

       spirituality for the street

- it is posted each Thursday by mid-day

         east coast USA time

    johnfrankshares.blogspot.com

- it is available by automatic email delivery

                on Fridays

     the sign up is top right above

- all past postings are available at

               Blog Archive

           right column bottom

                 ******

Here's to a great week very much

          RIGHT AT HOME

  Center Self and Out and About

            With Jesus.

        Looking forward to 

        seeing you next week!!

                ******

      

    

    

SPUNK

Dear All of Us,

So how about 102 year old

Mildred Geraldine "Gerri" Schappals

up there in New Hampshire?

As an infant in 1918 she survived 

an attack of the Spanish Flu.

In May 2020 she tested positive for COVID-19,

survived, and now is doing just fine.

In-between those dangerous bookends 

she survived both colon and breast cancer.

Now get this.

Gerri credits her love of wine 

for a good part of her longevity.

"Jesus did not change water into wine 

at Cana so we cold look at it," she said.

  (USA Today, September 20, 2020)

Now that's my kind of 102 year old!

What grit, cheek, audacity, 

vigor, pizzazz, chutzpah, what

                 SPUNK

Speaking of spunk, 

after nap time some day 

- hers and mine -

I'd love to have  

a couple of glasses of wine with Gerri

and play a few hands of UNO.

Bet she plays a "mean" game.

"Mean" as in full hearted, vigorous,

all out, nothing held back, 

not caving to caution, 

going for whatever you get, 

whatever is there,

playing the cards you're dealt and that with

                    SPUNK

laughing at winning or loosing 

because ultimately what does the score mean?

What's to take home?

Nada, except the wondrous recharge from 

from a rather sacred sort of shared life,

whatever the odds or score.

That' a winning hand for sure.

Gerri's wine wisdom reminds me that

the best way to play 

the game of life is a 

        Spirituality of Spunk

It's a spirituality of vigorously living 

what's at hand, be that sickness or health, 

things light or heavy, calm or turbulent, 

and not just sitting on the sidelines of life 

staring stymied to stupor

because things are different,

different easy or different difficult. 

If water has been intensified to wine, 

we don't fuss about it, we go for it.

If it's time to pick up our cross,

we get a move on.

Easy or hard this SoulLiving

mixes us up with 

God, neighbor and nature.

We literally "deal" with 

whatever we're dealt

and we do so with soulful

          SPUNK

Play to win and we lose a lot anyway,

and if we win so what!.

Play it safe and we've already lost.

Play to play and we win that

    "sacred shared life." 

 God - Neighbor - Nature

Play for good, go for it with 

               SPUNK

Play anything but solitaire and it's a

Holy Communion at the altar of share.

 

         "So, OK Gerri:

          Show your cards.

          Oh yes, white or red?"

God Bless Every Sassy, Spunky One Of Us!

                  John Frank

                   ******

So often we are so blessed with new folks

joining in with us. Among others this week, 

63 people stopped by all the way from Portugal.

Thanks and welcome to you and all our

first time visitors. It's like at The Olive Garden:

      "When You're Here You're Family."

                    ******

Thanks as well to all that tell others of 

our weekly gathering here at

         "frankly speaking"

      spirituality for the street

- it goes online each Thursday by mid-day

  east coast USA time

  johnfrankshares.blogspot.com

- automatic email delivery is each Friday

 sign up top right above.

- past postings are accessible from 

  Blog Archive

  right column above

                ******

                Sunday

             November 1, 2020

           ALL SAINTS DAY

              Happy Feast Day!

               ******

                  

THE EMBRACE

Given the temper of the times,

and that has more than one meaning,

we do well to deal with immediate urgencies.

Hopefully we will soon continue our series

                  FOLLOW THROUGH

                          ******

 

Dear All of Us,

Please permit the personal.

You and all the folks 

who are part of our weekly 

        SoulShare

here  at "frankly speaking"

are front and center with me.

I think of you every day and a lot.

Even more and better,

I hold each and everyone in prayer.

I join God in loving you.

I do not know all of you by name.

I do know all of you in my heart.

As an old man and 

a not altogether retired pastor,

           you   

are very much my concern 

and my virtual parish.

As I join in with God

looking around our little parish 

here at "frankly speaking",

and the one just outside 

my door here in Washington DC,

and the one spread worldwide,

what I see and hear and feel are

       upset, uncertainty, 

       fear, fright, fatigue.

It registers in all sorts of ways.

A few examples.

Do any come close to how you feel

and what you sense in others 

where you are?

    - "I'm sick and tired 

      of being sick and tired 

      of all this damn craziness.

      So, the hell with 

      patience and caution! 

      Let's go dancing.

      Enough is enough."

  - "This just isn't fair!

      I play by the rules.

      I'm busy raising kids,

      I work hard and have put together

      a good portfolio to safeguard our family

      and now this madness!!

      Will the market hold?

      Will the government hold?

      Will my kids get a good education?

      Will we ever find a safe way to socialize 

      with our relatives and friends?

      Will we ever get back to regular church?

      WILL WE EVER GET BACK TO REGULAR 

                      ANYTHING?"

   - "Man, I'm almost out of gas.

       I'm a single parent.

       I was just making it with rent and food.

       Then Pandemic.

       No school for for my children. 

       Job for me

       Now I need to leave my kids home alone

       if we are going to hold on.

       That scares the live'n heck out of me.

    - "I'm old and the thought of COVID

       sending me off to the hospital

       to die a painful death without my family

       has me tensed all the time."

    -"Oh, it's not as bad as the media makes it.

      Once we get past this election 

      and have a vaccine things will settle down."

            (in case you read that too fast,

             it's naked fear dressed in dense denial

             and it just isn't gonna go like that)

So just how do we go then?

We go deep spiritually and that together,

or we go down in turmoil

and in shared and tragic company.

No magic fix religion intended here.

Rather, a for real embrace of 

       The Embrace 

        is essential.

Call that Embrace what you like:

Allah, God, Yahweh, Vishnu, 

Your Own Divine Nature, The Great Spirit.

The hymn, God of Many Names, has it right.

Take your pick.

In fact, we do well to emulate the ancient Jews.

They referred to it as The Utterly Other One.

They didn't dare try to name or define.

Way better, they breathed

   The Breath of Life 

   in and out -

   all consonant sounding as 

   Yah-weh, Yah-weh.

By whatever name or no name, 

the reference is to

   - that which holds us together, 

   - that which is the creative force 

     and energy of the universe

   - that which is bedrock Reality

   - that which is Substance of substance

   - that which is the baseline Being 

     in which so many and much "be" 

   - that which is really and fortunately 

     beyond sufficient naming

     or possible grasping

At best, name is a tiny handle 

we fashion by which we try

to get a bit of a hold 

on how to think about that 

which holds us and all in existence.

That's were we go spiritually deep.

It's impossible to name or grasp.

It's wonderous to experience.

My personal little "handle" is from 

the ancient Greeks:

 -  "mysterion" - a reality so vast that

     the  human mind alone 

     cannot grasp it, but rather 

     can only describe

     the tiniest portion experienced  - 

     it's like the Pacific Ocean - 

    it's real and really impossible to grasp 

    by hand or eye - 

    just can't take it all in -

    what is possible, though,

    is to see the sea we're in

    and enjoy the swim.

Rumi said we are a drop in the ocean

and the ocean is in the drop.

In my Christian experience it goes by

                  Spirit

Breath of Life, Energy, The Dynamic.

In this terribly conflicted and

dangerous time, accepting

ever more fully and deeply 

       THE EMBRACE, 

steadies and strengthens.

It doesn't make everything "nice nice".

It doesn't take away the pain.

It does give the energy 

to deliver the baby.

To mix the metaphor, we all need 

to midwife each other 

(we macho sorts need to get used to it -

 our existence and everybody else's 

 depends on it).

To fuss with metaphor 

one last time - I promise -

we go into the love chamber

and let

      The Embrace 

have us all the way in, 

love us to Life, 

then we go out and deliver

the life sparked in us.

We don't dare lone wolf it.

We make sure to get together 

with folks who are

     "all in" 

We  personalize 

oneness with 

THE EMBRACE

and we share 

all the deliveries 

of life that are birthed.

To put all this "speciousness" 

in the vernacular, it means 

       private prayer 

            and 

  spiritual community.

We open to fulfillment in prayer,

like Jesus when he went off 

to be wrapped up with his Abba.

We make sure our preferred 

spiritual (energy) gathering

- church, synagogue, 

  mosque, temple, society -

  is for real and has 

  honest energy (Spirit ) to it.

  If it doesn't, time to make haste 

  and get the hell out of the illusion.

  We plug in where there is current!

On our own and with others,

we face facts these hard days 

and dark nights, frightening as some are.

A lot of our comfortable assurances 

have vaporized, not to return.

It's on to new realities, 

and like getting used to 

a pair of new shoes.

That may take some time 

and mean discomfort,

but we'll make a go of it.

We're a lot more fragile 

than we assumed.

That's sure a reality check 

we're being forced 

to face and pay.

We accept that we're 

becoming, not arrived.

We see what's our actual now 

and know we'll get banged 

against the wall of what is

if we don't.

That is not to settle for a failed fate.

It is to go through the painful birthing

of our new now.

This going deep spiritually will present 

and power in all sorts of varied ways.

We'll rejoice in the wonders all about us.

Where I am that includes 

a divine palate of autumn color.

We'll let others help us 

and we return the lift.

We'll find new ways to travel and connect.

For me that's more books than ever, 

the internet for concerts, lectures, and travels 

to museums and distant lands, 

The PBS Evening News and Encore,

ZOOM visits, periodicals, 

phone and email sharings,

a daily walk in our beautiful 

neighborhood and parks. 

Like the early Christians in Rome

we find ways to avoid being fed

to the lions for lunch. 

We discover our own versions of 

catacomb community and communion.

We face the danger before us 

and refuse to deal with 

the thousands of dangers 

that could/might befall us.

For us in DC that means 

not to worry weary 

that there may be 

civil distress in our streets

around and following the election.

Of course, we make sure 

to have some canned beans 

and flashlights at the ready.

If it happens, we'll help 

each other cope,

share our beans and lights. 

What's it like where you are?

If going forward we get more restricted 

time and place wise,

we'll write poems and paint pictures.

We'll platy cards and board games.

We'll record our family history.

We'll write letters.

We'll take naps.

We'll tutor students.

We straighten out closets, attics,

garages and basements.

We'll call and comfort 

the elderly and home bound.

What we won't do is 

just roll over and die

in any way, at any time.

We will live different, but we will live!

In short, we'll face any lemons 

that come our way 

and do our darnedest 

to squeeze out some lemonade.

We'll do our best even when 

we already know 

it's not really going to be enough.

We'll live the reality 

that we are a pilgrim people

and that we have here 

not a lasting kingdom.

We'll accept it's a rocky road 

and know that it goes 

somewhere wonderful.

We'll keep going, 

help others do the same,

let them help us til we all

get to the real promised land,

not the one politicians, pundits, 

blind guides in media and market

push and promote.

Thanks for letting me share 

this rather candid 

and rambling run on

in free flow from my love for you.

We'll get where we need to be.

We'll get there together.

We'll get there powered by 

       THE EMBRACE

        Your Brother

         John Frank

           ******

    If you are new here, 

       we are blessed.

         WELCOME

           ******

      "frankly speaking" 

  spirituality for the street

-is posted each Thursday

 by mid-day, east coast USA time

 johnfranhshares.blogspot.com

-arrives by automatic email delivery

 each Friday - sign up above right

-Blog Archive contains all past postings

 bottom right column above.

   "Abide in me as I abide in you.

                Jesus

     *******************