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Thoughts on Pope Francis

Pope Francis.

My faith journey has been, well, complicated. But a large and very influential part of that journey was as a Catholic. I converted from Methodist around age 12 and, though I’ve long journeyed away from the practice of faith, my true spiritual heart was forged there.

While I never felt any particular feelings towards any of the other Popes of my lifetime, Pope Francis was the outlier. Though I did not know him personally, I felt a particular respect and admiration for him.

Reports of all who have met and known him indicate he was a truly pious and humble man who stayed steadfast to his Jesuit practice of service to the poor. Mixed reports early in his tenure of him sneaking out of the Vatican at night to feed the poor had more a ring of truth than some actual verifiable actions of any previous Pope. One would hear such a story and not really question whether it was something he would do if he could.

I even have one direct loose connection to him — I did the graphic design for a report on The Overlooked Covenants of the Prophet Muhammad that was presented to him personally and he received many briefings on. The intended use was as a possible blueprint for modern peace between Abrahamic religions. An effort that is well expressed in his Fratelli tutti encyclical.

All of this is to say that the loss of this Pope weights heavily more than others, and I pray for those who must pick the one to fill his humble shoes.

Rest in peace, Francis.

What happens if us becomes them? What if they become us? What if they always were us and we always were them? What if there never was an us versus them or them versus us?

Resliance (Resistance)

Her year in particular has had to build an unparalleled amount of resilience. They have had to pivot, and turn, and make the best of things, and adjust expectations again and again and again. They have remade, and reshaped, and tried again. They have given up on dreams, and found new ones, and then found them again.

And here’s the thing. This is normal for them. They don’t know any other way. This is the only way they know. This is their strength.

My wife writes beautifully about our daughter’s age group and their ability to survive and thrive.