OUT GOING

Dear All of Us,

So, how would it go

if we were 

to go out to work, or

go out to a social event, 

dressed with absolutely 

all our clothing 

        INSIDE OUT

underwear to jacket and hat?

Of course it just wouldn't be a

              "go" 

       at all, would it, 

     except for a hasty

              "go" 

     right back home,

voluntary or otherwise.

In our spiritual lives 

it's just the opposite.

       The "go" 

     the dynamic

     is decidedly

     INSIDE OUT

And we don't have 

to beat a hasty retreat 

to go home because 

we're already 

and appropriately 

right at home 

and ready from there 

      to be

  OUT GOING

This is more than 

a play on words.

      It's how 

   our spiritual 

    lives play 

       OUT 

God is our 

Center, 

the core, 

the essence 

of who we are.

We "be" in BEING.

We live OUT 

that Goodness, 

that Godness.

A far away God 

doesn't have 

to come to us 

from the 

  OUTSIDE IN.

  God's already 

    "All IN"

   

   "In him 

    we live 

    and move 

    and have our 

      being." 

    Acts 17:28

We are embers of 

  THE LOVE BLAZE 

  THE MYSTERY

  WE CALL GOD

         

  "GOD IS LOVE"

    1 John 4:8

            

Our spiritual lives are 

a flaming outward 

of that intensity, 

ignited and igniting 

in creative Love.

That's who and 

how we are 

at our deepest 

and from there 

we are vigorously

   OUT GOING

Sadly, much religion goes 

the other way, it goes -

    OUTSIDE IN

    In so doing it

     dampens, 

     denies, 

     even does in 

a lot of healthy spirituality.

It sets separation 

between God and us.

It reads and routes 

our spiritual life 

with lots of distance:

    We're here.

 God's out there.

    In select 

moments and manners

God comes into 

our separated souls 

from that afar  -

   OUTSIDE IN

That means we start 

and stay alone a lot.

This flaw in 

a lot of religion 

is the failure to see 

that God 

starts, 

stabilizes 

and holds us 

  in being,

energizing us 

    to be

OUT GOING

    

Yes, at our center 

        we are 

AFLAME IN THE LOVE

   WHO IS GOD

We can bask in it.

That's what lovers do.

In the very best sense of it, 

we're hot, so hot that 

we are hot to trot,

   OUT GOING

to meet and meld into 

      Oneness 

with all the other 

    embers of

of being and doing, 

embers of God's

  LOVE BLAZE

   - flowers, babies, music, 

   - establishment of just

     social structures, 

   - ecological care,

   - romance and sex, 

   - philosophical insight, 

   - the hurt and the hurting

   - meditation and 

     contemplation,

   - scientific research 

     and development,

   - good meals and wine, 

   - sacred scriptures, 

     drama, literature and art,

   - partnering and parenting, 

   - people on the check-out line

     to members of our

     spiritual community,

     happily and endlessly

     without end!!

Richard Rohr puts us right

by putting it like this:

  "God cannot be found 

        'out there'

  until God is first found

        'in here,'

   within ourselves,

     as Augustine

   had profoundly 

     expressed 

  in his Confessions 

   in many ways.

  Then we can 

  almost naturally 

      see God 

  in others and in 

  all creation too. (1)

                                        

Put another way,

it's essential to be 

right at home 

  right  

       at 

         home.

That starts in 

the habitation of self, 

    centered in 

 The Love Blaze 

   who is God.

The intensity of 

that Love Blaze

flames us forth 

  OUT GOING

in union, support 

and service because 

we are equally 

right at home 

in the habitations of

Creation all about us

in whatever condition 

we find it in: 

    people and place, 

    matter and spirit,

    need and hurt,

     gift and grace,

    expansive co-creation,

    redemptive reconciliation

We discover that 

what is at our center 

is the very same center 

and endless extension 

that is at the core 

of all that is about us in

      Creation

  

We start from 

where we are 

and how we are -

God centered, 

loved to life, 

divinely intimate.

From there

  The Love Blaze 

  flames us forth

    OUT GOING 

  in joyous union 

         and

 passionate care,

no degree of separation 

from a distant God

or God's presence in

     Creation.

Hildegard of Bingin 

tells the tale:

  "Love abounds 

   in all things,

   excels from 

   the depths

   to beyond the stars,

   is lovingly disposed 

   to all things."

  "All living creatures 

   are sparks from 

   the radiation 

   of God's brilliance, 

   emerging from God 

   like the rays of the sun."

                  

     Oh yes! 

 In God we are 

right at home, 

happily inside out

and endlessly

 OUT GOING

Love to us all

 John Frank

  ******

(1) Richard Rohr, 

     Eager To Love

  Franciscan Media, 

  Cincinnati, Ohio,

       2014, p.8  

       ******

     

      PRAY 

      and

   PONDER

For those of us 

who wish to 

reflect and pray 

more and deeper 

on the dynamic of 

   OUT GOING

please consider 

drawing from 

what is offered here.

It is comes from 

Hildegard of Bingin,

a medieval mystic.

She saw and spoke 

so dearly, 

so deeply

so clearly

of innerness 

and outerness -

the divine dynamic.

 

Over the coming week(s)

may The Spirit 

fill ours, drawing 

from her sharings.

     ******

   

      To Prepare

Calming to our center,

we slowly and deeply

breath in and out.

       IN: "Yah"

       OUT: Weh

        Yahweh  

 In Hebrew: Y-H-W-H 

       When ready, 

             we

         Soul See 

a passage from Hildegard.

We let it speak and spark

rather than trying to master it.

The Spirit leads.

         ******

"Our souls should be like 

 transparent crystal

 through which 

 God can be perceived."

         ******

       

"O, You who are 

 ever giving life,

 moving all creatures,

 root of all things,

 washing them clean,

 wiping out their mistakes,

 healing their wounds.

 You are our true life,

  luminous,

 wonderful,

 awakening the heart 

 from its ancient sleep."

           ******

"Humankind, full of 

 creative possibilities,

 is God's work.

 Humankind alone

 is called to assist God.

 Humankind is called 

 to co-create.

 With nature's help,

 humankind can 

 set into creation

 all that is necessary

 and life sustaining."

       ******

"Be not lax in celebrating.

 Be not lazy in the

 festive service of God.

 Be ablaze with enthusiasm.

 Let us be an alive, 

 burning offering 

 before the altar of God."

        ******

"The soul is kissed by God 

 in its innermost regions."

         ******

"God has arranged

 everything in the universe

 in consideration 

 of everything else."

         ******

"Holy Spirit, 

 the life that gives life.

 You are the cause 

 of all movement. 

 You are the breath 

 of all creatures.

 You are the salve 

 that purifies our souls.

 You are the ointment 

 that heals our wounds.

 You are the fire 

 that warms our hearts.

 You are the light 

 that guides our feet.

 Let all the world praise you."

           ******

"Humanity, take

 a good look 

at yourself.

Inside you, 

you've got 

heaven and earth, 

and all creation.

You're a world - 

everything is

hidden in you."

    ******

"I am the fiery life 

 of the essence of God.

 I am the flame above 

 the beauty in the fields;

 I shine in the waters; 

 I burn in the sun, 

 the moon, and the stars.

 And with the airy wind, 

 I quicken all things vitally

 by an unseen, 

 all-sustaining life."

 *****************

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Thanks for stopping by.

Please come back.

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 join in our little community

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 spirituality for the street

   

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Please invite others 

to join us here weekly.

       Thank You!

         ******

Have a rip roaring great week,

 "ablaze with enthusiasm" 

        Out Going

            in

 The Love Who is God

******************

 

       

THE REST OF THE STORY

Dear All of Us,

I delight to introduce people to each other.

So, please meet Anthony Pami.

Anthony is my dear and treasured Soul Son.

He graces us with a recent sermon.

It's quite a story.

I'll be back next week.

See you then.

Love to All,

John Frank

******

                                                   THE REST OF THE STORY

There’s a verse in the Christian scriptures in a book called John (Chapter 20: Verse 30) that reads “now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book.” 

I like that. 

The writer of this particular story goes on to say that, despite this reality of incompleteness, you have ENOUGH of the story to believe but more importantly to LIVE (well).  I think that’s right.  In fact, while we do fuss and fret a whole lot in our lives and in our world over certain details, when it comes to living a life of GENEROSITY and LOVE (which I would argue is the point of this particular story) we really don’t need a lot of details. 

But then .. there are those other times in life where we do need details.  Times when we DO need to fuss and fret a whole lot more.  Times when knowing the “rest of the story” can make the difference between death and life.

During the second World War, radio broadcaster Paul Harvey created an on-air segment in which he would present stories of little known or forgotten facts on a variety of subjects.  He would weave these details into the story and into the living rooms of homes across the country while holding back the identity of the main subject until the very end.  That revelation at the end would be, exactly that .. a revelation .. an epiphany that left listeners surprised and enlightened having now been given, as Harvey would conclude in only the way he could, the “rest of the story.” 

The writer in John and Paul Harvey have me wondering and thinking about the “rest of my story,” and the “rest of your story.”  I don’t mean “the rest” as in the life yet to be lived.  I’m referring to all the parts and pieces .. all the history and complexity .. the joy and sorrow that we don’t know about.  We speak of TIME as our most precious commodity, often in the sense that, to maximize it, we need to MOVE – GO – PRODUCE – BE EFFICIENT .. but what if our greatest use of time is the ATTENTION we give it.  And what if that ATTENTION can be poured into the embrace of knowing the “rest of the story” of those we live with, those we love AND those we come across each and every day.   

The poet Mary Oliver writes this ..

“Here’s a story, and you don’t have to visit many houses to find it. One person is talking, the other one is not really listening. Someone can look like they are but they’re actually thinking about something they want to say, or their minds are just wandering. Or they’re looking at that little box people hold in their hands these days. And people get discouraged, so they quit trying. And the very quiet people, you may have noticed, are often the sad people.”

In my experience, the “sad” people often present as the angry people too.  But whatever it may be .. no matter how it may play out .. whether it’s sadness & despair – anger & some form of violence, whether it’s deep despair or some sort of deep dissatisfaction masquerading as a reckless non-stop party, there are human beings (all of which I would argue contain the spark of the divine within them) all around us desperately seeking to have their story heard .. brothers, others, sisters, a-listers and b-teamers who would love to be listened to. 

My teen-age daughter Elisabeth works part-time in a local Dunkin Donuts.  She shared with me yesterday that a woman came into the store, placed her order and then proceeded to tell her, as Elisabeth describes it, “her life story.”  No doubt, she’s exaggerating some but not entirely.  An adult woman walks into a Dunkin Donuts and confesses elements of the “rest of her story” to a 16 year old stranger!  She’s desperate to be heard .. for people to know more of her story .. for someone to fuss and fret over the details because .. the “rest of the story” matters. 

Last week, in the midst of my “secular” job (in addition to being a weekend pastor, I spend my week days working for a staffing firm seeking to find work, largely for finance & accounting professionals), I spoke to a woman who had, upon first blush, a difficult first and last name to pronounce.  She went by Kat which was a relief to my awkward pronunciation skills but I asked her if she could pronounce her full name for me (so that I could do the same accurately).  She did (in a fluid and lovely manner), to which I responded .. “what’s your background?”  She replied ..

“I’m Russian but don’t hold it against me.”

I would like to think that she knew it was unlikely I would hold that against her but she had to say it nonetheless .. didn’t she?  Because we do hold LOTS of things against people.  We assume – we label – we judge AND we don’t take the time to know the “rest of the story.”  Part of the rest of Kat’s story included having a sister named Lisa (so do I) and, like my sister, Kat spends a good amount of her free time, fostering and rescuing dogs.  Kat has a great energy and spirit about her .. and she puts forth that spirit in the interest of saving “man’s” best friends that have been forgotten. 

Mary Oliver writes of the people living in our houses.  And then there are the people that walk into the Dunkin Donuts on any given Sunday.  And there’s Kat .. “she’s Russian,” but she’s a whole lot more than that, isn’t she?

There are those we love .. those we know well and those we’ve yet to meet or perhaps think we know.  And there are a whole bunch of folks we think we know and, quite frankly, we don’t like very much.  People that we are seemingly miles apart from because of how we’ve labeled them .. people that are seemingly “no good” to us because of what they profess to believe .. because of what we “think” they value.  It’s no secret that we are an increasingly divided people! 

Technology has made our world smaller with the promise of knowing each other better and yet, we’ve settled for such a small part of the “story” of each other, that we’ve grown further and further apart.  We don’t know the “rest of the story” for those we love and for those we don’t think we like very much. 

So .. how about this!

Today .. tomorrow .. sometime this week .. whether it’s when you are “with the one you love,” whether it’s at the check-out counter at your local Dunkin Donuts or whether it’s, God forbid, with that person you just can’t imagine reconciling with (you know – your enemies) .. how about taking the time to ask them some questions about what is bringing them joy and sorrow TODAY, about who they are, where they came from, what growing up was like for them?  What if we all spend some extra time this week getting to know the “rest of the story” of the divine-human beings in our midst! 

For those that identify as Christians, we are living in an “age of resurrection,” having just celebrated Easter a little while ago.  When asked where he sees “signs of resurrection,” author and priest Paul Fromberg said this:

He most profoundly sees signs of resurrection when people recognize the presence of God in the person sitting right next to them. 

What if recognition includes listening and learning the “rest of the story” of that person! 

Grace & Peace,

Anthony

P.S. Thanks to my soul brother / father / friend John Frank for asking me to offer a reflection for this wonderful blog, Frankly Speaking.  It’s a gift to be READ (i.e. listened to) in this way.  I hope it struck a chord with you and will create some action in your life this week.  You can always visit me (in my weekend work) (www.fuvumc.org or on Facebook at  www.facebook.com/FreeUnionViennaUMC) or just e-mail me at apami@live.com .

P.S.S. I love movies.  One film you can check out where art imitates life with respect to the “rest of the story” is the brilliant 1997 drama, Goodwill Hunting.  Check out how the “young man” in Goodwill Hunting fails to invest, at times, in the “rest of the story” and how the “older man” (Sean played by Robin Williams) refuses to assume, label and stop at the surface level but continues to question and invest in the “rest of the story” of Will (played by Matt Damon).  Will is at risk of becoming more isolated, more angry, more life-less but through the attention of time given to him by Sean in knowing his story, he finds LIFE.  It’s a story, you can say, of HUNTING for the GOOD (in another) through exploring the ”rest of the story.”  

                                        ******

                                  Thanks Anthony!

                                        ******

                                  frankly speaking

                            spirituality for the street

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                                      ******

TRUCK

Dear All of Us,

Taking the curve slowly 

I just turned 82.

I feel a lot like 

trucker and truck

moving on down 

the road of now in a 

1940 Chevy Pick Up  -

no claim to be a classic of course,

surprised to still be on the road,

more than a few rust spots,

slow to go but steady,

odometer overed, 

and overed, and overed.

And over those miles of years 

 "Been there, done that"

       lots of lots 

     good and bad, 

  graceful and sinful.

Now way on down the road,

slowed synapses and sinews

slow sight to a wider, fuller view.

A few such seeings:

Life is what it is and 

best embraced as such.

There is pain, there is pleasure.

There is sadness, there is joy.

So such.

Death opens to new life,

all kinds of each.

That goes for plants, planet, people,

pretty much everyone and everything. 

There is a grand growth going on,

an evolution of good.

Some days we get it.

Some days we miss it.

Some days we abuse it.

Some days we embrace it.

It goes on anyway.

It's Limitless Energy.

It presents in a constellation  

of forms and intensities.

Our metrics measure

but a miniscule smidgen of

     This Mystery

What we can't measure, 

figure, configure, control,

we can experience

climbing into 

The Cosmic Bed Of Love. 

Even better, just let God

carry us there.

           "God is Love" 

and that's just where God wants us 

so God can love the socks off us.

It's a right now to forever romp.

Hey, thanks for riding along 

with this old trucker.

        John Frank

              PS

   A sequel of sorts 

   to this posting

   is likely for about 

   a month from now.

   Hope to share a bit more 

   with an old man musings 

   on the life journey as one

   rounding it out.

   So far the title is

          Trip

   and it is planned 

   for posting on May 25th.,

   but then in life, well,

   we'll see.

            ******

We're sure happy to welcome 

new folks here each week.

You are a blessing 

to our little community

here at

        frankly speaking

    spirituality for the street

johnfrankshares.blogspot.com

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                      ******

   In love, prayer and care

                we 

        Keep on truck'n    

              ****** 

 

CANDLE BRIGHT

Dear All of Us,

So, how about this?

It's a cloudy night.

No moonlight, no starlight at all.

There are seventy-five thousand of us.

We've filled the field and stands at

Yankee Stadium for a rally.

There's a power outage in New York.

Ink dark.

That's an image of our world 

and life just now.

It's a black out.

What can ordinary people 

     like us do about it? 

We feel powerless, stymied, stuck.

We can't stop the slaughter 

     in Ukraine.

We can't get Donald Trump 

     to stop lying about The Big Lie.

We can't deflate inflation.

We can't get insurrectionists 

     to be constitutionalists.

We can't get social media 

     truth tuned.

We can't root out racism.

We can't get Congress 

     focused and functional on

     The Common Good.

We can't reduce the risk of 

     nuclear devastation.

We can't discount pandemics.

We can't reverse

    wholesale earth abuse.

We're just little people 

     in a big bad world.

We can't do anything about it.

Oh yes we can!

Father James Keller used to say:

   "It's better to light one candle 

    than to curse the darkness." 

One candle can be seen 

in darkened Yankee Stadium.

When each of us little people 

lights a candle, deadly dark 

Yankee Stadium glows

       Candle Bright

So it can be with us

 and our world.

       A lot of little 

       means a lot.

Lots of "lit" little people

mean a lot of light 

in a dark world.

But how do we ignite?

How do we get the light?

  "I am the light of the world; 

   the one who follows me 

   will not walk in darkness, 

   but will have the light of life." 

          Matthew 5:16

We don't have to find the light.

We just need to follow the 

     "light of the world"

right where we are,

just as we are.

Sharing that in community

defies dark in 

a blaze of brilliance.

That's what real Church is.

To follow the leader is to live 

   "The Light of the World"

                to 

  "...have the light of life."

Jesus gives us a tutorial on

the how's, way's and why's 

of following him,

of living The Light.

It's simple and clear.

It's counter cultural.

That means it's difficult.

That means it's divine.

That means it's brilliant.

The tutorial is shared in

The Sermon on the Mount.

       Matthrew 5-7

Jesus "enlightens" us, 

his followers, his disciples.

Jesus spotlights:

- attitudes, stances, approaches

  on how to "be" real -

    The "Be"attitudes

- Us as "salt" and "light" 

       for others

- Anger

- Adultery

- Divorce

- Oaths

- Retaliation

- Love of enemies

- Giving to the needy

- Prayer

- Fasting

- Heart treasure

- Seeing clear eyed in the light

- Can't serve two masters -  we get 

        what follows from 

        who/what we follow

- Worry

- Judging others

- Profaning the holy

- Ask, Search, Knock

- "The Golden Rule"

- The narrow gate

- "Thus you will know them 

   by their fruits"

- Self deception

- Hearers and Doers

Talk about 

"spirituality for the street"!!

Jesus puts a lot of flesh 

on the bones of concept!

All of it is living The Light, 

personal, practical, communal.

In short, loving God, neighbor, self 

with all we've got -

high voltage!!

A couple of suggestions and 

a few comments.

This one has a sharp point - 

hopefully helpful like a good pencil.

Beware of large parts 

of organized religion.

Having "Been there, done that" 

for well over fifty years of pastoring, 

I sadly see that too many sectors of 

church are sanctuaries to Empire. 

The ideal was to convert Empire 

to the beautiful life of Christianity, 

but a lot of Christianity 

got converted to the controls 

and evils of Empire.

Be clear and honest about 

what's what ,

just how genuinely tuned 

to the Gospels a church is.

And there are many of them.

Many of the many 

are simple and small.

Most of all and always,

    "By their fruits 

     you will know them."

             Jesus

Watch out for a watered down Gospel, 

one that is conformed (deformed) to 

comfy, casual, "Christianity Lite"

        (not "The" Light).

Dietrick Bonhoeffer warned against 

         "cheap grace." 

He penned the price 

of genuine discipleship in

      "The Cost of Discipleship."

He paid the price with his life.

For those ready for a 

    Spring Retreat, 

a weeks long dwelling with 

The Sermon on the Mount 

       (Mt.5-7) 

would be a blessing.

What is Jesus saying, 

how do we live that light 

in our circumstances?

If there is interest and energy, 

a parallel reading 

of a standard translation and

The Message  translation 

would give a fuller sense of 

all that Jesus shares and invites.

The Message translation is 

online and free.

Twice Plus blessed if we do this

with one or more others.

             Lastly 

(thank you for hanging tight), 

a masterful commentary is 

Richard Rohr's book, 

   Jesus' Plan For A New World Order, 

       The Sermon on the Mount,

franciscan media, Cincinnati, Ohio, 1996. 

We'd have to go far to find better.

        Speaking of going, let's!

        How good for us together 

        to glow bright.

         "You're sons of Light,

          daughters of Day."

          1 Thessalonians 5:5 

               John Frank

                 ******

          A "Springing" Welcome 

                to our visitors

                    here at

               frankly speaking

          spirituality for the street

       johnfrankshares.blogspot.com

                     POSTED

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        Happily we don't have 

   to leave our world in the dark.

        See you next week.

               ******

                    

So, how to?

There is also Jesus is the Light of the World.

He wants to spark us, brighten us, enflame us.

He is pure bright - brilliance.

He is actually, in practice, "the way, the truth and the life" -

    the way to go about life

    the truth in which to do that

    the life to live.

 the Love that doesn't know how to go out.

 put poetically  1 Thess

In our day to day world and life

we can get depressed and curse the dark

                         OR

We can also be a

                     Candle Bright

   

 

TOGETHER

Dear All of Us,

Go ahead!

Enjoy!

This is my Grand Son, Ollie

and my Son-in-Love, Nick.

It's also about the best picturing

I can find of our spiritual life.

            

              TOGETHER

   Going where God takes us.

   Going as God takes us.

   Enjoying the closeness.

   Seeing things as God sees them.

   Secure in loving union and care.

   Experiencing Life

            TOGETHER

If it gets cold shiver together.

If it gets exciting get pumped together.

If it gets sunny bask together.

If it gets confusing get lost together.

If it gets rough get rocked together.

If it's a funeral cry together.

If it's a celebration party together.

        Never going it alone.

           All and Always

            TOGETHER

In other and much better words, 

 "Abide in me as I do in you."

              Jesus

            Gotta go.

Here comes Ollie and his Dad

We're going out for a walk.

          John Frank

           ******

PS

   Here's a bonus picturing 

   of our spiritual life. 

              

      HOLY COMMUNION

              ******

         frankly speaking

   spirituality for the street

johnfeankshares.blogspot.com

              ******

GOOD

Dear All of Us,

It was Good Friday.

Mickey caught me 

out front of church.

Mickey was a dear, deep,

lovable little boy of seven.

He was also a hurting little boy.

His Mom had died from cancer 

a few months prior.

Mickey was 

Soul Sick and Tired

of pain, hurt and death.

"Father, why do they call this

Good Friday?

They killed Jesus."

Mickey and I had a 

heart hug and huddle 

right then and there.

That was Good that Friday!

There's more than 

a little of Mickey in us all:

           WHY

pain, suffering, death?

What's so good about

all the varied

Good Fridays in life, 

that of Jesus, ours

those of all creation?

Good Friday 

was good because

that's how Jesus brought 

        Reality

       God Love

to the very guts of

where it wasn't - 

    Empire

      Evil

He entered the 

realm of evil 

from its portal 

right where he was 

- his suffering and crucifixion.

We do it one in Jesus 

from right where and how we are -

   betrayal, abuse, conflict, 

   physical/psychic suffering...

No matter the portal, 

they all open to 

the vast vacuum

of no good, no God, 

no Love, no Reality,

of sin, evil, pain -

all absences of good.

Lots of names for 

what's missing.

They present,

and we take them,

as something 

when in fact

they are an absence.

Consider.

Someone gets punched

in the nose.

The root evil there is 

the absence of the 

good use of energy 

(forcing the fist in in face)

and an absence of 

right good order 

in how our nose 

is supposed to be

(not pained and bleeding).

Most of all the absence of 

love, aka God, in the puncher.

Like all vacuums, 

evil sucks us 

into nothingness 

and that hurts like hell

because that's 

just what it is - hell - 

the absence of the real, 

of good, of love, of God.

In one form or other or many -

they lack the 

  Realness 

    that 

    "IS"

  that is 

God Good

Jesus brought 

that Realness, 

The Love That is God, 

where it wasn't, 

suffered the hurt 

of that absence

and kept on going through it 

and beyond it - rising up from it.

That blossomed into atonement.

Atonement isn't taking a hit 

to pay off a ticked off god.

Atonement is

getting us through the pain 

and nothingness of evil 

to oneness,

"at-one-ment" 

      with 

the real and good, 

that is God.

The trouble with trouble 

isn't what it is.

The trouble with trouble 

is what it isn't,

        GOOD 

Jesus embraced all 

that's missing in us,

all our sin and pain.

He suffered through it

in his Realness, 

his Goodness,

the Goodness that is God. 

He fulfilled what was missing.

He was in solidarity with all suffering

and brings us to solidarity with all good.

 

What's good about

   GOOD Friday

is that it we 

don't stay there.

What's good about

   GOOD Friday 

is that it opens to

   Easter Sunday

        down

          is 

       UPPED 

  "Christ is risen"

  and we will too!

  Alleluia Alleluia  

      Allelulia 

      ******

           frankly speaking

     spirituality for the street

 johnfrankshares.blogspot.com

               POSTED

      Wednesday by midday

       East Coast USA time

                EMAIL

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               ******

May we and our world rise up in 

              Easter joy.

            And, oh yes.

       Enjoy the jelly beans,

    especially the orange ones.

               ******

FORGIVE

Dear All of Us,

Good Morning, 

Good Afternoon,

Good Evening

to us all 

where and when 

we are in our just nows

on this spinning orb.

My just now is Monday morning 

here in Washington, DC - much prayer 

and three cups of coffee into this posting.

Well, where/when/however we are, 

here we go into 

the home stretch of Lent.

And Lent does "stretch" us,

doesn't it, and 

uncomfortably so at that.

It's a matter of Metanoia,

    a turn round right, 

    a return to Real,

    a letting go wrong heartedness,

    a letting The Spirit take hold and

         steer us straight into the

               Realm of Real

For most all of us, 

really for all of us,

the hardest of 

the hard parts of

    Metanoia 

      of this

  Rewew to Real

is to clear clean access 

to our hearts

by forgiving ourselves 

and others.

Difficult as it is,

Metanoia is only possible 

if we forgive.

Delt dreadfully by another, 

or sometimes by ourselves,

we are in pain for sure.

Just as surly we own it

from then on.

The effects may last, 

but the event is over.

We need to be over it too.

We may need help, even therapy,

to deal with the aftereffects.

Yet fundamentally, soul-wise,

the only way foreword is 

      forgiveness.

It's rough, rock hard.

Yet, forgive we do.

That's because 

the pain inflicted on us

contracts, blocks the 

       Love Flow

into and out of us.

We shut down, close off.

It's like our soul 

having a heart attack. 

It's just that dangerous.

So we seek and accept 

the grace requisite 

to open things up 

for free flow -

to receive and give love.

     Forgiveness 

And that is what God does:

  "Let all bitterness and wrath 

   and anger and clamor and slander 

   be put away from you, 

   along with malice. 

   Be kind to one another, 

   tender-hearted, 

   forgiving each other, 

   just as God in Christ 

   also has forgiven you." 

    Ephesians 4: 31-32

We do as Jesus did.

His last Lenten "stretch" was to be 

physically and psychically 

stretched to broken on the cross - 

betrayed, abandoned, 

horrendously tortured.

His response:

         Forgiveness.

     "Father, forgive them;

      for they do not know 

      what they are doing." 

         Luke 23:34

His openness to forgiveness 

meant the free flow of 

redeeming love for us all.

Like minded, like hearted,

     we turn to hurt in 

       FORGIVENESS

       and its freeing.

For these last days of Lent some

        points and prompts 

follow below should you wish them.

       Blessings on us all this 

          Lenten Stretch,

             John Frank

               ******

      FORGIVENNESS

   A LENTEN STRETCH

Metanoia means getting to

The Heart Of What Matters,

to get Righted Real:

- How much have I asked God 

  for the energy to address hurt, 

  to forgive and heal?

- What is it that another 

   has done to me, or that

   I have done to myself, that

   most blocks the free flow of

   The Love That Is God in me?

 - For how long have I denied, 

   delayed forgiveness?

 - How does that present in my

   attitude and behavior:

    - strife

    - quarrels

    - grudges

    - avoidance

    - passive aggressive tactics

    - jealousy

    - attacks social, physical, occupational,

      financial, political?

    - sulking 

    - moodiness, depression

- Do I need help from a spiritual guide

  to companion me to forgiveness?

Does this piece from Desmond Tutu

and his daughter, Mpho, 

speak to our spirit?

"Forgiveness is the only way 

to heal ourselves and 

to be free from the past...

without forgiveness, 

we remain tethered 

to the person who harmed us. 

We are bound to 

the chains of bitterness, 

tied together, trapped.

Until we can forgive 

the person who harmed us, 

that person will hold 

the keys to our happiness, 

that person will be our jailer. 

When we forgive, 

we take back control of 

our own fate and our feelings. 

We become our own liberator."

    The Book of Forgiving

What light do these scriptures shine 

on my need to forgive?

It's worth noting that there is no 

tit for tat involved.

God can only forgive us 

if we forgive others,

if we are opened up

to the free flow of forgiveness.

It is essentially, necessarily,

a two-way street.

We can only be forgiven 

if we actually embrace 

forgiveness in its fullness.

To buy in we may not hedge,

crop, or "adjust" our buy in.

It's all in or not at all in.

   "For if you forgive others,

    for their transgressions, 

    your heavenly Father 

    will also forgive you.

    But if you do 

    not forgive others, 

    then your Father 

    will not forgive 

    your transgressions."

     Matthew 6:14-15

   "Bearing with one another, 

    and forgiving each other, 

    whoever has a complaint 

    against anyone; 

    just as the Lord forgave you, 

    so also should you."

         Colossians 3:13

   "Be on guard! If your brother sins,  

    rebuke him; and if he repents, 

    forgive him. 

    And if he sins against you 

    seven times a day, 

    and returns to you 

    seven times saying, 

    'I repent,' forgive him."

     Luke 17:3-4

   (To be a Chistian 

     sure does gets us 

     into a lot of love!!)

           ******

This week a very large group 

from Brazil and our 

first ever visitor from 

Saudi Arabia

joined in with us all. 

Thank you and all 

new to our fellowship 

here at

         frankly speaking

   spirituality for the street

johnfrankshares,blogspot.com

             Posted

   by mid-day Wednesday

   east coast USA time

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May Holy Week be just that - a

         "Whole-ing."

           ******