So Yesterday, Miriam Clinic conducted health screenings of children and
teenagers participating in the 2018 Annual Leon Sullivan Hoops
Conference,... great job Shani Newton and team,.. a marvelous time, an
excellent mission, honoring the historic legacy of a great man.
Two
observations: Its noticeable, that when measuring blood pressures in
children and teenagers,.. the elegance and beauty of their blood
pressures, ...instructive to us all, of what our circulatory and cardiovascular
systems should look like when we're active through exercise and before
the ravages of unhealthy lifestyles has done its damage. I'm always
reminded that the intricacies of our bodies are a manifestation of God's
miracles, handiwork and goodness. The other observation is that doing
health screenings at a community event can reveal some of the pain still
suffered in our neighborhoods. A close friend of mine called my
attention to one of the adult attendees, whom she had never met, who had
obvious signs of such pain,... some serious life issues,.. revealed
through the screenings,, but also through conversation.
I'm reminded
that our openness to relationships connects us to the force of life,
which in turn forces us to pay attention to each other's pain (and
joys). Accordingly, our natural instinct to relieve the hurt must be to
offer an aspirin. Its the aspirin-- and the love that goes with it---
that leads, ultimately, to healing. Thank you, my good friend, for
offering that sister an aspirin. We are, in fact, our brother's, and our
sister's keepers.
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."
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