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."

Monday, May 11, 2020

A look back,.... a look forward

We get older, we get more reflective. Each death, each, loss, no matter how remote, is cause for taking time to look back at where we've been, where we are and where we may be going. I've done that a lot in recent years, and now in this period of COVID-19 quarantine, the cause rises again. 

A High School classmate of mine died awhile back and I found this reflection, written on the occasion of his passing. I remember feeling the nostalgia one feels when remember teenage years and contrasting those years with the certainty of one's mortality.  Made even more poignant in that we're in graduation season and what an unusual graduation season it is. Our graduates are doing virtual graduations,..no pomp and circumstance, except that played by our computers,.. no crawds of family and friends in cavernous auditoriums, no diplomas given on stage. No, this is a markedly different graduation season. But it remains immortal. It will live in memories forever as does my High School graduation from 1967. In my year book, I found this a note written by our Vice Principal. I think this is the very first time I've actually read this note, but looking in the rear view mirror, 50+ years, it caused me pause in its timeliness. Funny how statements that held little meaning carry such importance today.


Our graduating classes of 2020 have weathered the storm. They have endured and conquered, with frustration and persistence, with resignation, and diligence, with despair and hope. They have shown up in times when tghe paths grew dark and the hope seemed to evaporate in a whisper.  In this they have learned I hope they have learned that life can be uncertain. But I hope they have also learned that when you continue to show up, you'll surmount your obstacles.  

 "Untold adventures" really do await them. If they continue to show up for the journey with the diligence, resilience and compassion they've shown through this period of uncertainty and confusion, the world will indeed be a better place.
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