The Pope: Great Man or Misguided Priest?
Ooh. Loaded statement. And difficult to answer. There's no doubt that the Pope touched many lives. Off the top I have to say that I have the highest respect for the man. He reached out to countless people, and made a number of big (and important) steps for the Catholic Church. Biggest on the list is reconciling with the Jewish people and connecting on a peaceful level with the Muslims. And yet, at the same time as he promoted Christ and Christianity, he made a number of decisions that weren't so good. He focused a lot on the worship of Mary, as opposed to Christ. He took a conservative stand on many things (such as abortion) that was good, but then he turned around and continued to call for celibacy from priests and against birth control. I guess I struggle with the fact that he seemed very committed to Christ and the church on one hand, yet upheld some doctrines (or at least practices) that are at best highly suspect in their biblical support. Still, I don't doubt the man's faith - I just wish that he wasn't quite so caught up in Catholic traditions. But I guess we're all caught up in our own traditions.... Any thoughts?
posted by Monty P at 2:49 PM
8 Comments:
Monty P? What's up with that? On the other hand, I agree about the Pope. I've never been completely sure about the whole Catholic thing, an uncertainty that admitedly is largely due to ignorance, but the Pope obviously did have a great love for Christ.
12:29 AM, April 11, 2005
More Posts!!!
1:11 AM, April 12, 2005
Monty Python. Got it.
12:55 AM, April 13, 2005
i don't know enough about the pope's beliefs and doctrines and whatnot to really comment on that, but i do know that he was an avid sports fan and especially a soccer lover(he played keeper as a child growing up in poland), so he can't be that bad! Though from what i do know, he was a great man with great faith(even if he maybe had some slightly skewed doctrines or whatever).
2:01 AM, April 13, 2005
yoy really need to publish another one!!
5:37 PM, June 28, 2005
Why can't kids seem to work today? I remember 12 years ago when I started working. Myself and the others I worked with were gung ho and ready to work. I remember working my but off. It seems like every year the kids I work with are less inclined to work and even when they do agree to they just wander around and try not to actually work. They just want the pay and complain that they work too hard for not enough money.
I get frustrated trying to get some 16 year old kid to do a quarter of what I can do. Generally even with several months of experience and lots of training we can't seem to get them to do half of what I would do when I was thier age.
I think it all started with Jeff. He is a slacker. A well hung slacker, but a slacker none the less.
7:19 PM, June 29, 2005
So, my cars are always very emphatic in whatever they do, especially when they decide they need some tender lovin' care from the mechanic. Today, I was driving and Vanessa (my 1989 Crown Victoria LTD is named Vanessa, just so you know), and she got a little hot under the collar. I was going down the street, and suddenly my stereo quit on me. The music just disappeared, the display screen was blank, and I was cruising in silence. And then, my car just shut off. The good news was my stereo came back on. Still trying to figure that one out. So I pulled over to the side of the road, popped the hood and took a look. I quickly noticed flames coming out of the alternator, something that I was fairly certain wasn't supposed to be happening. A guy driving by on his bike (pedal bike, not motorcycle)(though it was a bike that was made to look like a chopper, which was kinda neat) helped me to put it out. Now Vanessa is sitting at Garland's autobody being repaired, hopefully by tomorrow, but maybe not until Monday, which is fine. I can survive that long, no worries.
This beats the last time my car broke down on the side of the road. It was a 1978 Chevrolet Impala, affectionately known as Pips. Sadly, Pips decided that it was time to make leave of this mortal coil, but he wanted to be known (I just realised that Pips was a guy...I had never really thought of it before, but he was way to rough and tumble to be a lady...ugly too) for his spectacular send off, so he did not go quietly into the night. In fact, he built up to it for a few months. It started with a ticking in the engine. Tick-tick-tick-tick, going faster as I sped up tickticktickticktick. That was mildly entertaining and worrisome. And then, the tick began to talk. TICK-TICK-TICK-TICK-TICK until it became so bad that the car was shaking and almost hopping around. Peter was driving near me, and he said that he could hear Pips in his vehicle (driving his Dodge Durango I do believe) above the sound of his stereo. For my part, I was enjoying the free massage. And then the smoke started pouring out. There was no actual fire, but enough smoke to compensate. So we towed it to my house, and I got it towed away by a wrecker, and a few days (hours? I can't remember) later Vanessa came into the picture.
Then there was the time my alternator belt broke on the highway. The people who were following us decided to drive on by without stopping to help or anything. That was kind of him (it was Anthony "Growper" Olson, the new intern at RockPointe (formerly Bow Valley Country HIlls) Church). I was left to push the car with the help of Tom Ross, while Adelou (a young man from Africa somewhere who does not have his licence, not even a learner's licence) steered the car. We got to the next town and replaced the belt, but that was an interesting night.
I think I hate cars now.
7:20 PM, June 29, 2005
not sure what all the car stories had to do with the Pope, but they were inspiring! - maybe that's it!
the Pope? great man OR misguided priest? how about both. I have such mixed feelings about the RC Church. Some of the devout Catholics, we have so much to learn from. Good thing there's hope knowing that the RC Church is full of believers, too! Every Church needs prayer! Our God is their God and He is faithful!
3:57 PM, February 25, 2006
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