Opaque Lucidity

Delay

I'm going to quit apologizing for my lack of posts here. Last week was my first full week back at work and I quickly discovered that my time management skills have gone down the tubes (not the internet tubes; sorry, Senator). I haven't put out a podcast recently, either, which really upsets me. I'll try to remedy that this week as well.

Being possibly the world's worst Catholic, you would not think I would be excited about the Pope's visit to the US. But I am. There is something about His Holiness that sets him apart, some presence that makes me feel comfortable even when I see him on TV. Pope John Paul II was in St. Peter's chair for most of my life, so Benedict has some big shoes to fill. John Paul was surprisingly hard when the times called for it. Benedict is less so, I think, but he still gets his message across in this age of possible Muslim domination. The fact that some terrorist leaders have threatened the Vatican tells me his message has hit home.

The Lovely Kelli actually went to Detroit to see John Paul when she was a teenager, but unless Benedict visits the US again, I will probably never see him in person. The White House is rolling out the red carpet for His Holiness, which tells me how much President Bush respects him as both a spiritual and political leader. I believe many non-Catholics dismiss the Pope as some faraway old man, but almost every Protestant faith's bedrock beliefs come from the Church. So when Benedict speaks, he speaks with more authority than as a leader of one sect of Christianity.