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."

Sunday, July 30, 2023

Peggy

 
I didn't have any pictures of Peggy.,... that is until I found this one on the internet.  It's from her legacy obituary page. Typical Peggy!

I Haven't thought about her in years, ..although I'm very close to her  Brother, Bob. Bob was married to my cousin, Judy, and over the years Bob's Family became very much apart of ours. In fact our 2 families became one, with Bob's parents becoming quite close with our matriarch. Then there were Bob's siblings, Bill, Ed and Peggy.

Peggy lived in Los Angeles where she was an "Imagineer" for Disney.As it turns out Pat, my wife, also had become fast friends with Peggy. Well, Peggy is no longer with us. Neither are Ed, Bill, Judy, their parents, our matriarch,.. its a lonely planet without them. But Pat, Bob and I are in for the long haul,..  In fact Bob turns 70 this week,..we've known each other for some 40 years. Happy Birthday, Bob.

So, I was thinking of Peggy this morning, not sure why,  I'm sure it has something to do with the gorgeous cloudless day,  also strangely Starbucks is mixed up n there somewhere,.. yes, that Starbucks. Another piece, Riverside, CA, is there, Uncle Joe and yes, Peggy.

It was a cloudless day in Southern California. I had been visiting my Uncle Joe, at his home in Riverside, CA. The day I was scheduled to leave from LAX, Peggy had a Doctors appointment scheduled. You see, she had stage 4 Ovarian Cancer, was resisting receiving chemotherapy, and I thought I'd go to her
appointment with her. Heading up from Riverside to LA took about 1 hour. Uncle Joe had told me it wouldn't take any less than 2 hours. But traffic was as clear as the sky and it was smooth sailing up to LA. Arriving early, I thought I'd get caught up on some work for about and hour at "Starbucks". Bu there were no parking spaces on the busy thoroufare where the "Starbucks" was located about a mile away from Peggy's apartment.   So I thought I'd head to her place,.. can't hurt to be a bit early.

"Hey Peggy,  how are you", hugging her somewhat frail body.. "I had a rough night ,.. called my Doctor, he said I should get to the hospital" " Well let's go what can I do to help you?"  So we spent the next 10 minutes, sorting through some things, she had her bag packed already., the we hit the road to the hospital.. can't remember which on, now.

So I sat with Peggy in a hospital in LA, not expecting that that's where I'd be on a cloudless day in Southern California . I had to say good bye to her in a couple of hours, to head for LAX, not knowing it would be the last good-bye we'd  share.

But a few things stand out for me:  I-91 from Riverside was absolutely clear, as if to beckon me on  to Peggy's, clearing a path for my early and urgent arrival; The "Starbucks" blocked and refused my entrance, say if to say,.. "got to turn around and get to Peggy's"; the amount of time I spent with her that morning was short, but enough to usher on to the next phase of her journey to what proved to be one of her last hospital visits, enough time to get done what needed too get done.  No time to think, but enough time to showing caring and love, whatever the universe chose to channel through me to her.

How many times do we get to be conduits of caring and love in brief moments that the Universe totally orchestrates.  Leave yourself open for that.  As we touch each other, its all part of your story,.. and their's.

Posted by at

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)