History
4-4-05 3:53pm
I chose today to begin blogging again, and I'm only doing so because I finally have something on my mind again. The passing of Pope John Paul II has much to do with my reasoning. Though I'm not of the Catholic faith, the stories and images shown on CNN have moved me. Moreover, they've caught the attention of my 17 yr old son, and that's nothing short of a miracle in, and of, itself. This is the same young man who told me not too many years ago that he wasn't sure if he believed in God.
Yet there he was, perched in front of the television, watching in fascinated silence as the body of the Pope was carried through St. Peter's Square, into the Basilica. ANYthing that gets THAT much of my son's attention (that isn't a video game) gets elevated status in my book.
When I asked him why he paid so much attention he told me that it started out as just a curiosity as to why people were so moved by him, but as he listened and heard so many stories about the Pope, not just his faith but his love of the common man, that seemed almost unreal to him. The REAL attention grabber for him, though, was hearing the story of how Pope John Paul publicly forgave the man who tried to kill him a mere five days after the attempt. Austin was so floored by the concept of forgiveness, especially in an attenpt on someone's life, that he appears to be on the verge of a breakthrough.
I'd venture that the church would say THAT's alot of what it's all about. kdgr