Victor was just under two years old, or maybe he was just over two,... didn't say much, so we couldn't ask him and its otherwise hard to tell his exact age. And there's no one to ask,... they're all busy doing other things. Can't say where his parents are, so its a bit strange that this little boy is laying on the examining table, peaceful but alone, with the flurry of activity around him and in other parts of this room.
Leaving Victor, we walk past a woman, Maria, laying on a gourney, alive,.. although barely,.. weak and pale, also not saying much, a bit more activity though, but most people are in other parts of this room doing other things. Its seems the real action was not with Maria or Victor but in another direction of the room where I.V.s were quickly hung, electrolyte solutions rapidly opened with the accompanying background sounds of groaning and crying and an atmosphere of urgency, without which people would die.
From one table to the next we move past the half-dead and almost dead human beings in the re-hydration room of St. Mary's Missions Hospital in Nairobi, Kenya. Water and food are precious commodities here and if you don't get enough of either, you will be faced with the very real possibility of dehydration. Or maybe the real enemy you face is diarrhea. Dehydration and electrolyte depletion are close cousins, and there's a home for you here, in the re-hydration room, if not comfort and healing. Hence the I.V. fluids and electrolyte solutions. So, we live in a world composed of 75% water, yet we need a rehydration room. Seems like and oxymoronic situation. And its not so much that there isn't sufficient water, ..there is. Its a matter that on this planet, resources have not been directed to insure that the water is kept clean. And in areas of drought, efforts are not made to bring fresh water to those in need. Even in the end, in a re-hydration room in sub-saharan Africa, human resources are so diminished that we choose to attend to those who might survive rather that attempt revival of those who we know won't.
So there lays Maria, not her real name but perhaps a suitable one, on the half-dead or almost dead list. Maybe she'll find renewed life, maybe she won't. Her groans are muffled and becoming softer and her breathing more shallow, as attendants rush past her to save those they can. Choices, choices, choices,....Oh yeah, and as for Victor, the almost two year old, he's already dead, so that's one less choice that will have to be made. And by the way, we never knew his real name, but made the choice to call him Victor. We don't know his real life story, but if you die at the age of two in a re-hydration room, in Nairobi, Kenya, because diarrhea has literally drained the life from you, it seems appropriate that 'Victory' should in some way be attached to your humanity.
We've made the choice to allow much of our planetary population to suffer for lack of clean water or adequate nourishment. We've made the choice to allow many of our neighbors to die, even two year olds, because of it. Paul Tillich has suggested that we impune the credibility of our Christianity when we worship a child born in a manger over 2,000 years ago, yet allow two year olds to die needlessly, today. Could it be that in this, we've made the choice to compromise our planetary humanity?
Welcome
Welcome to All. This blog is a discussion site, looking at our lives through our experiences, our spiritual, and, not so spiritual lens, ....what our lives look like at The Front. We are and some would argue, always have been, in interesting times. Servants, past and present have been at constant struggle with whatever the issues of the day have been. Where do we even begin to name them: poverty, hunger, education, shelter, .... and did I mention poverty? Fifty-one years ago, President Lyndon Johnson declared war on poverty, a war by the way, we're still fighting. Then again, we've always been at war with poverty, and yet poverty has remained steadfast. Jesus apparently got it right: "The poor will always be with you." But Jesus was a smart man. Did he mean what we think? Does poverty always have to be with us. Let's talk about this, and whatever else, in real and truthful ways. Let's view our lives from The Front.
If you have come to help me, then you are wasting your time. If you have come because your liberation is linked to mine, then we will work together.
----(Anonymous) Australian Aborigine Activist
--mailto:--neilpitts@aol.com
----(Anonymous) Australian Aborigine Activist
--mailto:--neilpitts@aol.com
Contemplative Action
The Rite of Initiation: You are going to die
A shocking statement. Perhaps. But the Franciscan Priest, Richard Rohr,,who has studied the Rite of Initiation has said the following::
"Every initiation rite I've studied had some ritual, dramatic, or theatrical way to experience crossing the threshold from life to death in symbolic form. Some ritual of death and resurrection was the centerpiece of all male initiation. It is probably why Jesus sought out and submitted to John the Baptist's offbeat death and rebirth ritual down by the riverside, when his own temple had become more concerned with purity codes than with transformation. It is probably why Jesus kept talking to his disciples, three times in Mark's Gospel, about the necessity of this death journey, and why three times they changed the subject (8:31-10:45). It is undoubtedly why Jesus finally stopped talking about it, and just did it, not ritually but actually. Death and resurrection, the paschal mystery, is the theme of every single Eucharist no matter what the feast or season. It takes us many seasons and even years to overcome our resistance to death.
"The transformational journey of death and resurrection is the only real message. It makes you indestructible. The real life, God's life, is running through you and in you already. But allowing it to flow freely doesn't come easily. When you do, the spiritual journey really begins. Up to that moment it is just religion. Everything up to then is creating the container, but you have not yet found the contents; you are creating the wineskins, as Jesus says, but you are not yet drinking the intoxicating wine."
It seems to me that the 'human' has gone out of humanity. We seem to have dropped the role of being our brother's keeper, not realizing that we all either need help at some times or will need help. But the 'community' has gone out of the world for the most part I'm afraid... I worry that we cannot get it back...
ReplyDeleteDerrick.