“Now where did I put my initiations?”
“Oh that’s right .... I didn’t get any.”
“Yes you did! ..... what about losing faith in the reality of Santa Claus?”
“Yes .... o.k. .... everybody lied to me. I suppose reaching that early understanding could be called an initiation. But - that left me confused which surely isn’t the purpose of initiation.”
“What about the child molester?”
“Right .... nobody prepared me for that possibility but it’s not an initiation except in deceit and corruption.”
“What about our culture, civilisation and religion? Didn’t you get an initiation into something positive along the way?”
“Hey - I can’t make a rubber band let alone build a concrete Cathedral so - no - I’m not initiated into the marvels of mechanics.”
“Religion? I loved the Christ of childhood Sunday school and that He appeared to be one of the few adults who were kind .... and ... nice. I was horrified to hear some priest say that without the resurrection Jesus would have just been a good man. To my child’s mind what mattered was his message. I never met Christ in that blindingly real sense that some will say but I do get that Christ - and the kingdom of heaven - lie within and do so whether you’re a Christian or not.”
I come home from work and my back is sore. It’s because - in a real sense - I’m standing on the shoulders of those who came before me and, already, I feel the weight of those who stand on my shoulders.
We’re linked whether we like it or not but Western Society fragments us. We’re told we’re individuals as if that were the end of the matter.
We’re told we have ‘rights’ but no-one states our responsibilities.
How long is it since anyone referred to you as a citizen rather than a consumer? It would be humorous if it weren’t so horrific.
I’m not speaking from some lofty height but from a plain of desolation.
“White man speak with forked tongue.” and every tribal society on earth has had to come to terms with the fact that OUR tribal leaders have broken every treaty ever written.
Their initiation is all the more painful because they probably thought - for awhile - that we were ‘true’...... that we could be trusted.
Whatever God might be surely didn’t just start interacting with mankind with the appearance of Christ or Buddha.
My rose coloured glasses are broken and I mean that literally. I love the colour that they give and wear them while driving regardless of the broken frame. It’s when I forget that I’m wearing them and they fall off that I’m reminded again that things aren’t what they seem.
“Now - let’s see - how many realities co-exist?”
“More than one if initiation is to have any greater meaning than cold comfort.”