In Memoriam
Il Papa is dead. The leader of the Catholic church for almost three decades has, after a steady and prolonged decline in health, succumbed to septic shock. A once vigorous and charismatic leader, reduced by years of Parkinson's Disease to a withered reed, died an old man's death.I had forgotten the significance of Jean Paul and the immense good he had done in his earlier years. Or, to be truthful the good he continued to do while Parkinson's turned him into a prisoner in his own body. I had become myopic and focused only on those issues where his decisions and beliefs continued to hold back women and people of various sexual orientations.
Now, with the Christian world involved in a global remembrance, I take time to reflect on Il Papa and how his final act as a man of principal and faith was the perfect summation of his life. He suffered from Parkinson's and allowed death to set the schedule of his dying. Most importantly, he allowed us glimpses of his failing, suffering, and dying. He reminded us of our frailty by permitting us to watch his pilgrimage to death.
I am not a man traditional faith. I do not believe in churches, mosques, synagogue, or temples. Yet, I understand that others may need religion and its symbols in their lives. That is their right.
In addition, I am no stranger to death and dying. My wife and I have lost our parents, grandparents, and almost all our families senior members. Becky is a hospice homecare social worker and is immersed in death daily. Every evening she brings it home with her and we take time to process the experiences and emotions of her day. For us, death has become an integral part of daily life and, despite what many might assume, our home is a place of life; full of color, light, conversation, good food, and music.
For me, the death of Jean Paul reminds me of my own failings, my lapses of open-mindedness, and how difficult it is to strive to be a person of principle. Now, in the silence after Jean Paul's last rasping breath, I can reflect on the complexity of his life and, in turn of my own life and lives of others.
Others can list his accomplishments and failings.
Over the coming days, while the media goes into some freakish kind 7x24 of Pope-afelia, I will mark the passing of Jean Paul, Il Papa, by drinking in more deeply the blue of the spring sky, the sound of my wife's voice, the soft warmth of my cats' fur, and the presence of friends and family -- living and dead.
I am fond of New Orleans jazz funerals. The slow march to the cemetery accompanied by mournful music and the soft beat of the mourners' steps. At graveside there is the intense tear-filled good bye. For a moment there is silence: the world takes a deep breath and then exhales slowly. Then as family and friends turn from the fresh turned earth, the trumpeter in the band begins a mournful call that quickly escalates into a brilliant shout. The band kicks into high gear. The return from the cemetery is a joyous parade: dancing, spinning, and musical.
The mourners have not turned their backs on the dead and forgotten them. On the contrary, they have turned their backs to the empty shell placed in the ground, but have begun a send off party for the departed's spirit. The mourners know that death is transition to something better and they are wishing the departed a raucous bon voyage.
Is there life after death?
Who knows?
All accounts are hearsay.
Does it really matter?
Isn't the important thing that we live well by sharing our love and compassion with others, helping those that have less, and respecting all of our brothers and sisters?
Isn't the important thing that we make this a better world than the one we were born into?
Isn't it more important that when each of us draws our final rasping breath and takes that first step into eternity, we can be certain that our lives had helped to reduce sickness, ignorance, poverty, violence, and hatred?
The passing of Jean Paul has reminded me to dust off my life goal. When it is time for me to turn away from the colorful chaos of life and face the great unknown, I will do it confident that no matter what, I did my human best and that others live better for it.
Il Papa, grazie.
posted by Les @ 6:04 AM
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