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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, June 19, 2023

Clarity: Let your mind do its own marvelous thing

 


Day 2 .... Vermont 2023,  what a gorgeous day, shadowy sunrise in the eat, calm lake waters, presage of a brand new day.  No one up yet,  house is settled, time form my morning cup of coffee and morning meditation. The word "clarity" is settling in my brain. Taking residence and root for at least a few days. Hopefully clarity will blossom and grow, nurtured by he sun and lake water. But that sun and lake nurturing, my hope is that my brain will settle into itself, without interruption or interference from me. 

Too often, I think, we sabotage our own quest fro peace and contentment. We are, after all, thoughtful beings, or at least, at times, we should be.  But what would happen if we took a few minutes to "not think"? What would unfold,if we just lest our brains, do its own marvelous thing?

Years ago, I took a course oddly named Managing Technical People. At the time
I was supervisor of a data management and entry group (a technical group) at SmithKline.  The instructor was wise, weaving stories and anecdotes designed to enhance communication acumen.    One such story involved the news paper "Jumble" He pointed out that when the Jumble seems impossible to solve, put it away for a few, or even several minutes, the come back to it. You'll find that when you return to the puzzle, as if by magic, there it is... the solution. When rested your mind has done its own marvelous thing.  Clarity!!

These days I'm haunted by the phrase Be Still and know that I am God! The act of being still, of clearing your soul, of letting go, of meeting the Universe on its own peaceful terms may lead to an understanding of yourself, and hence the clarity that we all desire.  A thought: In the end, the clarity may have its own way with us. So why not take a shortcut and go there now. Let your mind do its own marvelous thing!

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