Friday, November 23, 2018
JUST RIGHT
Hi There !
So, when things turn out
JUST RIGHT
it's a right turn for sure.
Things like:
- two perfectly connecting flights
and you get to Chicago
ahead of schedule
- that first date that means for sure
there's plenty more to come
- your signature souffle
that was perfect at
last night's dinner party
- securing a spectacular contract
for your firm
- scripting a poem that
speaks your soul
- a winning slam dunk
in the last two seconds of
the championship final
- restoring that
1932 Ford Coupe to a "T"
So good when things are
JUST RIGHT
As we widen our focus,
we see the same is true
in our spiritual lives
out here on the street
of everyday living -
our individual part
and the universal whole
we share with all.
This, by the important way,
bares absolutely no resemblance
to any sort of puritanical or
perfectionistic arrogance
in our spiritual living.
They are not at all right.
Rather, and ever so better,
is our oneness in
God's Work
of
getting things
JUST RIGHT.
Pardon my Latin, but
"just" and "right"
are identical twins.
"Just"
from the Latin
"Justus'
means
"Right,"
as in getting things
JUST RIGHT.
Our spiritual lives are
a continuance
in this time and place of
God's
"Justus"
the work of getting things
JUST RIGHT
- if "God" is not your
accustomed appellation,
please insert
Existence, Reality,, Being,
Cosmic Energy Field,
or your own particular word for
The Whole Enchilada -
Justice
.rights wrong
rights creation.
*********
JUSTICE RIGHTS WRONG
Some times things are not at all right.
Rather, they are dead wrong,
as dead wrong as the
Pittsburgh Synagogue Slaughter
as dead wrong as the
economic/social imbalance of
99% to 1%
or the rape of Mother Earth.
Evil is energy gone wrong -
people playing God,
social systems structured
to the advantage of a selfish few
and the degradation
of painfully so many,
the abuse of peoples and places.
I don't have the time
nor competence
to deal fully with
the problem of evil.
But God does
and we are invited
to join in,
to right the wrong
in the here and now,
to be part of the ongoing
redemptive love
and work of God.
In and with him
we return good for evil.
Thus, evil is replaced
with good
one moment,
one person,
one place,
one setting
at a time.
"Do not repay evil with evil...
do not be overcome by evil,
but overcome evil with good."
( Romans 12:17 and 21)
In the particulars and practicalities
of our living we are part of
God's redemptive love
"Righting Wrong"
until one day things are
JUST RIGHT
Some Examples:
- not to break up or back off
when someone close is being
wackie or weird -
it's called long suffering and
requires high octane love
- to have lunch with the local
and consistently avoided nerd
at work or school
- to pay day laborers $20 an hour
- to get out of the way
and let the tailgater go
- to calmly and clearly challenge
a "play it safe" pastor
who just won't address
social justice issues in sermons
- to tip big time an inattentive waiter
- to be proactive in welcoming
minority folk when they arrive
in the area (or religious community )
Yes, "overcome evil with good"
until things are
JUST RIGHT.
JUSTICE RIGHTS CREATION
So far, so good.
And it doesn't stop there or ever.
It just gets exponentially better.
Our moniker for it is
Creation
and we're all invited to the party.
We are asked to help get it
JUST RIGHT.
To put it in the vernacular,
God has ants in his pants
and just can't keep
goodness to himself.
God thrills to pour out
his enthusiastic energy
in ever new, imaginative,
spectacular creations.
Sticking with the vernacular,
God is like a gourmet chef
serving up one new excellence
after plenty before
God is like a toy maker
bursting forth with
fascination upon fascination
God is just getting started.
He's on a roll
and he wants us in on
the exuberance spiraling out
in never to end beauty.
Here's a bit of
a sampler of possibilities
as we co-create with God,
righting creation:
- whatever our orientation,
socializing, mixing it up
with folks of other orientations
- retired folks refusing
to "park" it in,
rather
re-"tire"-ing
with a whole new set
of wheels
and off they go
in new directions of
care and creativity
like never before -
*writing poetry,
*doing watercolors,
*building houses
for the homeless,
*mentoring teens
in dangerous drift,
* hosting groups for
inter- generational sharing
- simplify by shopping
in thrift stores and thus
recycling rather than land fill
everything from clothing to a
vintage Howdy Doody cap
( a cap like that would
get things going
next time on the links!!)
- being practically and
locally active in politics
so that it gets a chance to be
what it's meant to be -
high minded, warm hearted
principles put into practice
- moving away from the
trivia and falseness of so much
social media and instead
calling people by phone,
writing them letters,
sending them pictures of the kids
- selecting a career tract
that lifts and frees you
and lots of others
- taking a gap year or two
to serve in groups like Sojourners,
Jesuit Volunteer Corps, L'Arche
- starting a spirituality group
in the spirit of John Wesley's
"Ecclesiolae in Ecclesia"
( a little church within the church)
for deeper community and
substantive soul share
-securing farm and forest land preservation.
Between you, justice focused colleagues
and The Holy Spirit, The Spirit of Truth,
you are sure to get creation wonderfully
JUST RIGHT
Thanks to God and so many of you.
Our little, weekly circle of sharing
here at "frankly speaking"
continues to widen.
Let's daily hold each in God's Love.
May our love, prayers,
and hopefully this blog,
support us all in vigorously living
our spiritual lives out here on
the street of everyday living,
in whatever country/context it runs
through.
Every goodness and blessing.
Holding you and yours
In God's Dear Love,
John Frank
*****
We happily welcome those new
to our weekly sharing here.
Thank you for your company.
To get a sense of
what we are about here,
please do spend a few minutes
and lots of self with
- What's Going On Here?
and
- Consider Your Source.
(right column online)
*****
"frankly speaking"
spirituality for the street
- Online each Friday at
johnfrankshares.blogspot.com
( bookmark for easy access )
- Email each Saturday
for automatic,weekly delivery
sign up at the top right of
the online version
- Past Postings
go to Blog Archive
bottom right,
online version
Thank You
*****
-
Friday, November 16, 2018
YOU COUNT
Hi There !
You count.
You really do!
So does the way you count.
Too often, though,
neither counts for much
in our digitized culture.
In some ways most of us
are more a number
than anything else,
more than even a name,
much less a noteworthy "One."
Our Social Security number is used
to officially identify us
even before our name,
before anything about
the "One" we actually are.
In the doctor's office, or at the pharmacy,
computer at hand, the first question is
the numbers of our birth date.
Then of course, it's the numbers of our
credit, health, ATM cards that identify us.
All this adds up to a deficit.
The net effect of being a number
causes a deep down,
often barely conscious sense
that we don't count for all that much.
Facebook and it's media cousins
make their money
by providing a platform
where a lot of people
who feel discounted can perform a bit,
strut their stuff in an effort
to count for something,
to count as a significant some-"One."
For all the impersonality
of our numbered culture,
we all count beyond count and cosmically so,
even if we can't count on our numbered culture
to factor us in as of divine significance.
It's essential to regularly take
some Soul Time with that,
to meditate and sense how we really do count
and what that means, means for us,
and what we mean for creation, for others,
and what we mean to God.
John Duns Scotus,
the medieval mystic and theologian,
emphasized that each "One" of us
is deliberately and uniquely created
on purpose by God as the "One" we are.
Now, that sure counts!!!
There was an attempt to cancel out Jesus,
reduce him to a zero,
yet no "One" ever counted more
in all of human history.
Think how much "One" woman counts -
the "One" who brought us to life.
A healthy, authentic spirituality is founded
on the divine worth of each "One" of us.
It is also based on the divine worth
of every other "One."
We find ourselves uniquely "One"
and essential "One" with all other "Ones"
in the the spaciousness of God's
ONENESS.
There's marvelous mystery
and divine paradox
all over the ledger of reality,
(or should that be
"the spread sheet" of reality?)
There's a dear tale that says it
better than I know how.
It's as simple as the integrity of "One."
It seems our dear friend, Augustine,
sinner and saint, thinker, theologian,
was walking along the ocean shore
way over there in long ago Northern Africa.
Countless star fish had been washed up
on the shore and were dying on the beach
in the bright sunlight.
A young boy was picking them up one at time,
wading into the sea a bit
and returning each one there
and to continued life.
Given the sheer number
of stranded star fish on the beach,
ever pragmatic Augustine asked the boy
what good was returning this one
and that one to the sea.
The boy smiled and said,
"It's good for each one saved."
Each "One" counted,
and so did that "One" boy
and his counting.
On the shore and in the sea of our living,
we count, and so does how we count.
Thanks for your good company, every
"One."
Holding you in
God's Dear and Oceanic Love,
John Frank
*****
A pleasant and delicious
Thanksgiving
to you and your family.
*****
MEDITATION MOMENTS
"So have no fear of them; for nothing is covered up
that will not be uncovered, and nothing secret
that will not become known...
Do not fear those kill the body
but cannot kill the soul...
Are not two sparrows sold for a penny?
Yet not one of them falls to the round
apart from your Father.
And even the hairs of your head are all counted.
So do not be afraid...
(Matthew 10: 26, 28a, 9, 31a)
*****
How good to have new folks joining in each week here at
"frankly speaking"
spirituality for the street.
Welcome.
Thank you for choosing to be with us.
If you can spare the time,
please take that time with
What's Going On Here?
and
Consider Your Source.
Both are in the right column of the online posting.
They would give a bit of orientation to
"frankly speaking".
* It is posted each Friday at online at
johnfrankshares.blogspot.com
and can be bookmarked for ready access.
* It is available each Saturday be automatic email delivery.
The sign up is at the top right of the online posting.
* Past postings are available at Blog Archive,
lower right, online posting.
Thank You
*********************************************************************************
Friday, November 9, 2018
ATTENTION
Hi There !
"Bless me, Father, for I have sinned.
It's been a week since my last confession.
These are my sins.
I had impure thoughts many times every day."
That was a typical lead for the "soul script"
of teenage boys when I was a young priest
hearing their confessions.
Their "impure thoughts"
were sexual images and fantasies
sprung from pubescent "hormonal upheaval."
Well, this old confessor needs to confess
that I too am plagued with
"impure thoughts many times every day."
Do I have your attention???
You see, that's my problem:
ATTENTION!!
My attention to God is blurred to blindness
at times by an impure haze over my spirit.
Its pollutants are pride, selfishness, fear,
laziness, and a batch of
not a bit likeable "impurities."
It's a terrible play in too many acts:
* Feigning attention while
not a bit interested in a person
* Smiling as a defense rather than
as a soul stretch
* Saying the right thing
for a totally wrong reason
* At worship wondering
about other things
rather than being in wonder
* Listening to music
while mentally planning
tomorrow's schedule
* Reading the Bible
to anchor my points
rather than be treated
to refreshing revelation
* Pretending to fully listen
to another while busy
lining up my responses.
These "impurities" and
their smudged cousins
cause a
disconnect between my
Soul Self
and the
God of Right Here,
Right Now.
That God of Right Here, Right Now
is so purely present in prayer, people,
sacred writings, service, work, nature,
the arts, science, learning -
in everyone and everywhere I go.
The trouble is I'm not!
My"impurities" haze over
real attention to the
God of Right Here, Right Now.
Paradoxically my "impurities"
became quite clear to me the other day.
I was doing spiritual direction.
There is a lot of God,
God Right Here, Right Now,
in that wonderful man.
I missed most of it it because
I was trying to score some points,
posturing as a wise sage and saintly soul.
Inattentive and impure
in the presence of
such pure Godness
right there, right then!!
Well, that's about it
for this edition of
"True Confessions."
Here's the hope:
* To purely,
to really give attention
to "God Present"
wherever, however
the pure presence.
* To give "soul attention"
(i.e. center self )
to people and place,
to God Right Here, Right Now
so present there
* to give myself
a reality check
every morning,
noon, and night -
an examen -
"How purely am I present?"
* To regularly thank God
for waiting til I get there!!
Here it is
Scripture Straight:
THE POLLUTION:
" There are those who are pure
in their own eyes and yet
are not cleansed of their own filth."
Proverbs 30:12
THE PURITY:
" Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they shall see God."
Matthew 5:8
Hey, let's
cleans the lens!!
Holding you all in
God's Dear Love,
God Right Here, Right Now,
John Frank
*****
Each week we are gifted by new folks
joining us here at
"frankly speaking"
spirituality for the street.
This week that new participation came from
Thailand.
Welcome!
We are blessed by your presence.
To get a sense of what we are all about here,
please give a little prayerful time and attention to
WHAT'S GOING ON HERE?
and
CONSIDER YOUR SOURCE.
They are to the right, online posting
"frankly speaking"
-is posted online each Friday at
johnfrankshares.blogspot.com
and can be bookmarked for ready access
-is available by automatic
email delivery each Saturday
Sign Up, top right, online posting
-past postings are available at Blog Archive,
right column, online posting.
Thank You.
**************************************************************************