One of the surprising and touching aspects of the Pope's remarks to the American public has been his emphasis on the process of aging. He mentioned the loneliness of the aged and also to day to Congress he reminds us of the wisdom of the aged. One of the most poignant insights is his stressing of the mixed nature of all things and of all of us. This thread of the ways we should examine polarity and refuse to see everything as either black or white. He directly points to the inadequacy of seeing reality always as a duality. In calling for a universal global ending of the death penalty, he focuses on the fact of its finality--that it erases the chance of change and rehabilitation. I believe that applies to the experience of aging and dying--as long as we are breathing we have within us the potential to change, to repent, to seek forgiveness and like the Prodigal Son to turn back to the loving arms of our FATHER who is always watching for us on the road with arms ready to embrace us.
There is a golden thread that weaves through every remark of the Pope-- to be at the service of dialogue and peace. We must not write anyone off, must not declare anyone as finished or hopeless. Especially we must not numb our hearts to the tender mercies that flow constantly from God to each and every one of us on this planet. Each of us so different in our circumstances and our DNA but each of us united by our human dignity and our participation in the divinity that we each carry in our immortal soul.
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