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

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."

Thursday, July 27, 2017

Exploring your strength,.. and Wisdom

Mission trips have been given a bad name. And in many cases, deservedly so. In medical missions particularly. Its hard to determine or justify any benefit that might result from examining a patient or dispensing a medication without any assurance that what you've done has lasting results. So let's switch gears from examining and dispensing to assisting with local policy and education. Let's see how things work here before we examine and dispense. Why don't we ask questions, discuss, and then, ask more questions. There are four U.S. pharmacy students who are doing just that....in Kenya.

Kenyan health care, in many instances, is managed by pharmacists. A pharmacist is Registrar (Commissioner) of the Pharmacy and Poisons Board, the equivalent of the U.S. FDA. A pharmacist is Director of the National Quality Control Laboratory. This is the branch of government responsible for ensuring approval of high quality medication distribution as well as making recommendation for approval to the PPB. There are so many other areas of pharmacist' responsibility. We are in the right place, at the right time. And in advocating for the profession, Kenyan pharmacists have advocated for the full healthcare team to provide meaningful quality of life for all Kenyans, health-wise. But these professionals realize that the journey has not ended. There is a distance to travel, still.

That's why I watch in awe as four U.S. Pharmacy students detail their experience in pharmacy education to the Registrar/Commissioner and the governing board of the PPB. They're intently interested in implementation of the PharmD degree in Kenya. I'm witness to the excited atmosphere when they present to the Hospital Pharmacist Association of Kenya (HOPAK). I observe as they participate with practicing pharmacist at the community level in a dispensing capacity, pharmacists who are passionate about their interaction with patients. And yes, there's been the medical camp at which we treated over 290 children at an orphanage. These four are putting the full thrust of their education to work. They are exploring and exercising their professional strength and wisdom. Learning how the system works is where we begin to change things,....longterm.

So this is a different type of medical mission trip. One in which there is full immersion, learning and engagement with those on the ground. How does the system work? Teach me, and together we may be able to go in a different direction and reach a higher plane of existence. One where everyone is the beneficiary of a growing society. Jesus talked about this all the time "...that they might have life more abundantly."  Shouldn't we all take a page from the book that these four U.S. Pharmacy students are writing?

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