The Ground of all Being

They finally buried the Holy Father. Thank you, Lord. The relentless reverence with which the whole Papal death has been handled is the smarmiest attempt at political correctness I've seen lately. God forbid that we have a discussion regarding the direction the Church has taken in John Paul II's stewardship. Once again, it's emotion over intellect. I understand not wanting to offend. I understand not wanting to kick the Holy Father while he's waiting to be buried. I don't think any of that is necessary. Let's just have a dialog about important issues facing the Church and how we might best approach them, with God's help.

The Holy Father's death was politicized here by people who want to use his strongly held moral and ethical positions to pat themselves on the back. Maybe get a vote or two from people who are impressed with phrases such as "culture of life." This from people who have absolutely no qualms whatsoever about the death penalty. We support the culture of life when it suits us, thank you very much. We're politicians. Worse yet, we're Republican politicians.

The truly wonderful thing about the relentless television coverage of the Holy Father's death and funeral is that it reminds us that these rituals have been with us for centuries now. For me, one of the best things about the Church is that it is like joining hands with our ancestors. It's an opportunity for all of us to pause for a little while and think about the "ground of all being."

I'll be glad when we can get this all settled, get the new guy in and get on with things. I don't mean to be disrespectful...I'm just weary of all of the people who want to cash in on John Paul II's death.

Here's the quote of the day:
"...when we finally know we are dying, and all other sentient beings are dying with us, we start to have a burning, almost heartbreaking sense of the fragility and preciousness of each moment and each being, and from this can grow a deep, clear, limitless compassion for all beings." ~ Sogyal Rinpoche

America held hostage day 1913
Bushism of the day:
"If I'm the president, we're going to have emergency-room care, we're going to have gag orders."

Website of the day: Origami Plans and Instructions
http://www.freepapertoys.com/pt-origami.html

Bonus Website of the day: Vatican: The Holy See
http://www.vatican.va/