WebKittyn Warbles
Friday, April 08, 2005
The Mother of All Funerals
No way I was going to sleep through this.
I was just taken aback as they brough the coffin out (this is being typed like a live commentary, I don't want to lose those random free-flow thoughts), what a plain coffin.. It's not really a surprise given the sort of man he was but still, it's the Pope, ya know? I was expecting some ornate coffin. This fits, it was a small thing but probably the one thing that will stick with me down the road.
For one man to touch so many people on such personal levels, I can't even begin to comprehend it looking at the millions of people there. One man. One. One little Polish man with a calling and a big vision. People can knock religion all they want, the emotion/sorrow/admiration I'm seeing on every face I see stands as its own testimony.
It makes me sad I didn't pay more attention to the man when he was alive. Caught up in the contemporary drama world I let my disagreements with the old world views jade me. I did not know all the things he did, all the hearts he touched, the difference he made to so many. I've truly gained a new respect for him, even if it comes too late. I guess that's not totally a bad thing though, to touch even in death.
The ritual and history of it all have me in awe. I am a student of monastic warriors and holy rituals, for me this is better than any superhero movie or special effects blast. There is still so much mystery to the Church, so many rituals and secrets and history. This is the closest I'll ever get to what we're seeing now, I doubt in my lifetime there will be another John Paul II.
My Latin is terribly rusty, I'm missing every other word.
A few tears in my eyes, I'm not sure why I'm sad. I think it's just sort of overwhelming to take it all in and that coffin blew my mind. All the stupid people and shit we as a world make important. Celebrities walking around like they've really made a difference in the world because they make movies or tv shows. Politicians with Messiah complexes who rise to the top by cutting down competitors. Hrmmm.
I always say I want to personally touch the lives of 10 people before I die. 10 people. There are 5 million people who slept in the street and endured porta potties right now because one man touched them. It gives me hope (hope from the Pope? Ok, it's late), maybe 10 isn't such an impossible number.
I'm not turning Catholic, this isn't a religious thing so much for me but it is very much a spiritual thing and I'll be honest. I envy the Catholics for their faith, I don't have that sort of faith in any being, living or dead. I don't know if I could.
Deeply touching and intense describes it well.
-
I’m totally with you. I’ve been watching CNN straight from the time of his ailing and continuing on. I am absolutely touched and moved by the emotion and love that the people in the streets are showing to him. I was slightly upset that he did not get buried back in Poland, however, it was clearly not his wish, as he had made his wishes known in other areas (ie. not returning to the hospital when he knew it was time to go; I also believe that it was his wishes that the Vatican make his condition and ailment known so quickly as they do not act so quickly in the past, etc)
I am thoroughly engrossed in the whole process of selecting the next Pope as well. Having not been cognizant of the process, much less very much about the religion when he first became Pope in 1978. It is beyond exciting to me. It’s more important to me than the election was here, which seems odd to me. This, another person that moved the world like he was backed by a super power nation, yet he was just the head of a church.
I can’t be torn away from this stuff. I just wish I could see how the Conclave worked inside… someone make me a fly on the wall. I wanna see how it works!
on 04/08 at 10:20 AM
<-- Steal me!
