The Bike Path of Recovery

I am tentatively on my way back to life after having the living HECK kicked out of me by this latest bout of mystery could-be-flu-but-felt-more-like-mad-cow-disease-meets-near-death-experience illness.

I have started to begin making actual recognizable word-like sounds when I open my mouth. This is a positive step. I believe my vocal chords are now re-learning the lost art of speaking, which has been missing from my life for a few days now. While this has actually been a rather liberating experience, I welcome the return of my ability to use my voice again and hope to have full capacity soon.

I feel myself bicycling on the bike path which runs along the road to recovery. Hey - it's forward movement.

When one is sick, one tends to watch a wee too much TV. At least when that 'one' is me.

TV amuses me, because I rarely have the opportunity to watch an entire program from beginning to end. And when I do, I am at least third in the pecking order, so most days I endure episodes of 'Jay Jay the Jet Plane', the entire programming lineup of the 'Noggin' channel, or a DVD movie played over and over and over (the latest obsession with my children is 'The Incredibles', which I can just about recite verbatim at this point), until I shut it off altogether.

So, this week, when I actually was able to sit through an entire news broadcast documenting the enormous gravity, pomp, joy, and reverence surrounding the announcement of Pope Benedict the 16th of the Holy Catholic Church, I was grateful. Not only that, I was deeply moved. I watched the FOX news broadcast with humble heart and joyful spirit, surprisingly on the verge of tears. I was celebrating with the incredible masses of people in Rome, in Italy, in Vatican City, and around the world, as we watched each choreographed, liturgical, deeply historically steeped, religious, traditional ceremony take place. I was so touched by the faces I studied as the TV cameras panned the crowd inside Vatican City. The majority of these devoted religious people are YOUNG. This is not a dying church, and Christianity is not a dying religion as we are so often misled to believe. I see it radically opposite. These people had such hope, such purpose, and such joy and such a spirit of reverence about them. And it was not limited to them - Jews, Christians, Buddhists, and those even unassociated with faith or a specific religion shared in this joy and reverence. Lives were touched beyond the boundaries of the church, beyond the boundaries of Catholicism.

Personally, I was strongly moved in a place in my heart that I did not expect on a rather otherwise uneventful Tuesday morning as I battled this raging flu. The intensity of my emotion shocked me a bit as I openly respected with reverence this moment, and this God-appointed man, whose kairos (God appointed time) had clearly come to rise up and lead this church for as long as his life span allows. God was evident and present on the faces of that faithful crowd, waiting to greet the newly appointed leader of their church. And it is my truest hope that God is continually revealed and glorified in the new Pope and the workings and teachings of the Catholic Church.

There was for me such hope and joy in sharing this wonderful event. And such gratitude that I, by invasive miracle of TV journalism, was able to gain access to the experience of it all.

Now on the flip side...

I am not Catholic.

I have never subscribed to the whole "my religion can beat up your religion" line of thinking with respect to ANY religion except the completely WACKO (and by "wacko", I mean anything I personally deem worthy of meriting the category. Moonies, Heaven's Gate, Aethrian Society, Realian's, etc. all exemplify my unabashed WACKO designation. Some certifiably. Thankfully, God loves each member of these wacko groups and I can borrow my love from Him, because some of them actually freak me out a little bit.) But, fascinatingly, I have encountered some interesting and disheartening comments this week, even among my decidely "non-wacko" mostly-Protestant circle of influence, that would indicate that some apparently do.

Baffled and aloof were they by the ceremonies surrounding the election and announcement of the Pope. Where I saw joy and celebration, they saw an opportunity to dispassionately point out the differences in our traditions. Where I joined with all Catholics who rejoiced in this new Pope ~ his integrity and humility, they condemned the very church system that appointed him. One man should not be worshipped in this way, I heard. It's wrong - it's idol worship. And while we're at it...what is with confession? No one needs an intermediary to be able to converse with God. What is the purpose of the obsession with the virgin Mary and all these saints? They are just people - not deities. Jesus is the savior, not Mary. Etc, etc...

All of this caused my heart to stir and I found myself leaping to the defense of Catholicism in general, in typically strident fashion, which generally shut down whatever conversation was causing my ecumenical claws to emerge.

But in retrospect, I've come to this: within every religion, every faith tradition, there are definite wackos. But the TRUTH of Christ and the TRUTH of God is not defined by those wackos so much as hindered by their actions. We must be able to look beyond humanity's example because it will ALWAYS fail to display the full measure of God's glory. Instead, we should seek God despite the failings of man, because of them, or in light of them ~ and must not use the imperfection of any one religion or its adherents as an excuse to avoid God's truth. Catholics do not have a monopoly on the wacko factor. Garden-variety Christians don't either, although every time I hear a story about some wacko doing some crazed thing in the name of the church or Christ, my soul HURTS because that may be the only representative face of Jesus that some are unfortunate to see. And that sad and warped example becomes their litmus test understanding of what Christianity is all about. Tragic.

I heard unsettling words spoken this week about the Catholic church. I never realized to what degree some people, even those who share the same passion and love for Jesus Christ, will cling to differences and become blind to shared truths. My eyes and ears may not have been opened before, but my radar is on overdrive now.

I share the same God as the Pope. The same Jesus. The same hope. The same certainty. The same Bible. The same moral values. Our religious ceremonies, history, and celebration structures may be different, but our final destination is united. We are reaching towards Christ together and in increasing numbers with renewed passions. That is worth celebrating. That is why I cried when the Pope was introduced for the first time. And THAT is why I stand up for all Catholics in sharing this amazingly reverent moment in history, even as this scrolls along the bottom of my TV screen: http://msnbc.msn.com/id/7570729/.

Ah well.

May God bless the Pope and the Catholic Church. And may God teach us all to not be hindered by artificial denominational boundaries in our pursuit of life through Christ, abundantly.