The Last Bit.
I am at a loss for tonight's The Last Bit I usually have something in mind or can take a bit and come up with something. The news is full of target-rich pieces on which to base satire (as evidenced by the previous two nights) but it just isn't in me tonight.
A little opening up perhaps. More melancholy than mirth tonight.
The passing of John Paul II has affected me more than I thought it would. Since he was pope I was altar boy, indifferent-Catholic, anti-Catholic/Religious, indifferent-Catholic, and returned prodigal son. John Paul II has been a "peter" in my life, a rock that I came to take for granted. His legacy is not gone nor is he gone from our lives but the person is gone.
Today it was warm in Wisconsin. I grabbed my "Almost Acoustic" CD by the Jerry Garcia Folk Band and was driving around (voting, shopping etc) and listening to it. I hear ya! How the heck did we get from Pope John Paul II to Jerry Garcia?
Not so simple stay and listen. The opening song on that CD is a pepped up version of "Swing Low (Sweet Chariot)" which is about the imminent passing of life and the passage to heaven. The second song I was keen to hear was "Gone Home" which is also a death song, this one not so upbeat as the rendition of "Swing Low".
"They left one by one As their work here was done" is very meaningful of late. John Paul II's work was done and as I tried to convey in my poem the other night, God is retooling. Some may think the idea of "retooling" in terms of the death of a person and replacing that person reprehensible but what else are we? We are either tools in the hands of God, Satan, or worthless trinkets. What are you?
I think God's hands were all over the Papacy of John Paul II. If you recall when Pope Paul VI passed away the pope elected to succeed him was not John Paul II but John Paul I and John Paul I died about one month after that. God Bless John Paul I, but apparently God wanted another Pontiff and he got it. When one looks at the accomplishments of John Paul II, one knows why God wanted John Paul II.
John Paul II served to stiffen the resolve of the west and assist the defeat of communism. He served to remind us to allow God to use us as tools for his divine purposes. He brought a new face to the Catholic Church, one that recognizes modernity but does not compromise on its core principles. He reminds us that true faith does not consist of fanaticism but of humble service to the Godhead in all of us.
One last personal observation for you, dear reader. I can only recall getting choked up over the deaths of three strangers. Ronald Reagan's funeral was very tough to watch, the Pope is tough as well, and so too was Jerry Garcia's passing. Perhaps there were others but I have a hard time thinking of who they might have been at the moment.
Be a tool in the hands of God.
A little opening up perhaps. More melancholy than mirth tonight.
The passing of John Paul II has affected me more than I thought it would. Since he was pope I was altar boy, indifferent-Catholic, anti-Catholic/Religious, indifferent-Catholic, and returned prodigal son. John Paul II has been a "peter" in my life, a rock that I came to take for granted. His legacy is not gone nor is he gone from our lives but the person is gone.
Today it was warm in Wisconsin. I grabbed my "Almost Acoustic" CD by the Jerry Garcia Folk Band and was driving around (voting, shopping etc) and listening to it. I hear ya! How the heck did we get from Pope John Paul II to Jerry Garcia?
Not so simple stay and listen. The opening song on that CD is a pepped up version of "Swing Low (Sweet Chariot)" which is about the imminent passing of life and the passage to heaven. The second song I was keen to hear was "Gone Home" which is also a death song, this one not so upbeat as the rendition of "Swing Low".
They've joined the heavenly fold
They're walking the streets of pure gold
They left one by one
As their work here was done
Gone home (they have gone home)
Gone home (they have gone home)
They're walking the streets of pure gold
They left one by one
As their work here was done
Gone home (they have gone home)
Gone home (they have gone home)
"They left one by one As their work here was done" is very meaningful of late. John Paul II's work was done and as I tried to convey in my poem the other night, God is retooling. Some may think the idea of "retooling" in terms of the death of a person and replacing that person reprehensible but what else are we? We are either tools in the hands of God, Satan, or worthless trinkets. What are you?
I think God's hands were all over the Papacy of John Paul II. If you recall when Pope Paul VI passed away the pope elected to succeed him was not John Paul II but John Paul I and John Paul I died about one month after that. God Bless John Paul I, but apparently God wanted another Pontiff and he got it. When one looks at the accomplishments of John Paul II, one knows why God wanted John Paul II.
John Paul II served to stiffen the resolve of the west and assist the defeat of communism. He served to remind us to allow God to use us as tools for his divine purposes. He brought a new face to the Catholic Church, one that recognizes modernity but does not compromise on its core principles. He reminds us that true faith does not consist of fanaticism but of humble service to the Godhead in all of us.
One last personal observation for you, dear reader. I can only recall getting choked up over the deaths of three strangers. Ronald Reagan's funeral was very tough to watch, the Pope is tough as well, and so too was Jerry Garcia's passing. Perhaps there were others but I have a hard time thinking of who they might have been at the moment.
Be a tool in the hands of God.
posted by Marcus Aurelius at 9:38 PM
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