The Pope

OK, I never thought I would be inspired to write anything about the Pope. But I find I can't help myself. He is here. It seems to be rather big news. I heard that in DC they were selling all kinds of trinkets in honor of his visit, items such as Pope bobble heads and Pope on a rope soap. I thought it amusing. I have never understood the whole Pope thing. He is a man. He is no more a representation of Christ than any other man. I don't get it. He is a man with peculiar fashion sense and a knack for showing up to the baseball stadium when there is no game scheduled. I don't know how anyone can take him seriously in that pope mobile thing.

That being said, he did something yesterday that surprised me. He met with some of the victims of the sexual abuse scandal face to face. It wasn't publicized. It was very private. They interviewed three of them this morning on one of those morning news shows I can't remember the name of. All three seemed very certain of his sincerity. When asked what he said to them the one guy said that he listened. He let them do the talking. He told them he was sorry. That is cool. he came to them with no explanations or excuses, no platitudes, no Bible verses, he came seeking forgiveness from them.

Now that is Christlike. That is humility, like when Jesus washed the feet of His disciples.

So, I have to let up on the guy. I have to admit, I didn't think he had the courage to face these people. I didn't think he cared enough. I was wrong, very happily wrong. It seemed to really help them and it was touching.

No Pope soap on a rope for me.