The Passing of a Giant

A birthday yesterday, a great death today. Rest in Peace, Your Holiness.

This will be a new experience for my generation--we've never lived with any pope but him, and John Paul has been our image (for Catholics and non Catholics) of what a Pope should be. He was a tower of faith, controversial on many aspects for the greater world populace, but a bastion of hope and good for many more. His hand held great sway over the downfalls of both communism and apartheid, and he confronted injustices across the globe. In some ways, he was considered conservative and traditionalist, but in his actions as a public figure and spokesman for peace (or just war) and the other humanitarian needs of this human world, he stood as a refreshingly new figure. May we see more in this mold follow in his footsteps.

A sad time, but also beautiful, in a way--he embraced the sanctity of life in both respects--he welcomed death at it's proper time, neither hastening nor unduly sustaining it. Survivor of 4 bullet wounds, Parkinson's, arthritis, and who knows what else, he had the strength to persevere. Yet when his time came in his late age, he passed gently and with acceptance, a quiet monument to suffering, the human spirit, and God's will and love.

I'm no eulogist, so I'll stop there.