with one leg exposed, toe to hip, coolwarm air through furhair
and the other cloaked in the twenty year cotton once donned by my mother
both cycling up and down through the soft darkness
the scent of jasmine was ten times more intoxicating
than any brew i sippped while the sound of lonely banjo picking
wafted through the delta
4.21.2005
4.20.2005
not so fast
i'd been waiting a long time. it was at least a year ago when i began anticipating the passing of pope john paul II. because i was ready for a change on a global scale, and because i wanted to see firsthand the whole fiasco.
jp II is the only pope i've ever known, and compared to the multitude of catholics worldwide, my exposure was probably more than most: between sophomore and junior year of high school, i made a pilgrimage to world youth day with a handful of other young faithfuls from my church, under the auspices of getting together with tens of thousands of other young catholics to be with the pope and revel in our christianity. really, i was going because it was a free trip to colorado, the farthest west i'd ever been. god must have known my deviant reasons and it was the most horrendous week ever. but, i did get to see the pope driving his pope mobile around mile high stadium, and i camped out in cherry creek state park to wake up to hear jp II giving mass the next morning, after a night of whispered disbelief that the swedes were -naked- in their sleeping bags because 'it's warmer that way.'
the next time i saw him was accidental. i happened to be visiting vatican city on the day of his weekly meet and greet. or, greet and bless. this is a big event for some folks, and obviously some travelers had come in groups, replete in matching t-shirts (or habits). of course, the all knowing jp II made sure to give special shout-outs to these devout pilgrims, and when he called them by name, they all hollered and waved. i watched for a while, then headed in to see hundreds of years of catholic treasure booty in the vatican museum.*
so, finally the time which i awaited has arrived. i found out from nytimes online. which also presented me with slide shows about those in the race for next pope. theoretically, there's no "race," but it's likely the campaigning has been going on for quite some time. oh, what promise for something transformative - this was not a simple u.s. election, it was a coming together of spiritual leaders (albeit from one sect) from the world over. would it be an african? south american? an acknowledgement of healthy change and the need to renew? no. it shall be an old fogey, soon to die. perhaps his old ways will pass with him. perhaps not.
around the same time that i began to look forward to the changing of the papacy, i also began to feel deep inside that it is time for a female president of the united states. and so now i re-turn my attention, and patiently pray on a bumper sticker i saw a few weeks ago: hillary and oprah 2008.
*(while i will not at this time begin a rant about the implications of vatican's incredibly vast horde, i will say this: when i attempted to enter the enclosed parts of the vatican (as opposed to the main piazza, into which you can just wander) the two italian guards checked my bag, as was their job. they found the swiss army knife that i'd been carrying all over the continent. they pointed to the five gallon drum for discards beside them. i gave a desparate glance to my traveling partner and said half to him and half to the guards, "this was my grandfather's knife. i can't leave it here. i can't go in." (it was totally true, but after spending a few weeks in italy i also understood the insane respect and reverence for family). they looked at me, let down their guard, lowered their voices, and made the appropriate hand gestures to indicate that i should put the knife in my bag and come on in. this was the greatest example of compassion i witnessed at the vatican.)
jp II is the only pope i've ever known, and compared to the multitude of catholics worldwide, my exposure was probably more than most: between sophomore and junior year of high school, i made a pilgrimage to world youth day with a handful of other young faithfuls from my church, under the auspices of getting together with tens of thousands of other young catholics to be with the pope and revel in our christianity. really, i was going because it was a free trip to colorado, the farthest west i'd ever been. god must have known my deviant reasons and it was the most horrendous week ever. but, i did get to see the pope driving his pope mobile around mile high stadium, and i camped out in cherry creek state park to wake up to hear jp II giving mass the next morning, after a night of whispered disbelief that the swedes were -naked- in their sleeping bags because 'it's warmer that way.'
the next time i saw him was accidental. i happened to be visiting vatican city on the day of his weekly meet and greet. or, greet and bless. this is a big event for some folks, and obviously some travelers had come in groups, replete in matching t-shirts (or habits). of course, the all knowing jp II made sure to give special shout-outs to these devout pilgrims, and when he called them by name, they all hollered and waved. i watched for a while, then headed in to see hundreds of years of catholic treasure booty in the vatican museum.*
so, finally the time which i awaited has arrived. i found out from nytimes online. which also presented me with slide shows about those in the race for next pope. theoretically, there's no "race," but it's likely the campaigning has been going on for quite some time. oh, what promise for something transformative - this was not a simple u.s. election, it was a coming together of spiritual leaders (albeit from one sect) from the world over. would it be an african? south american? an acknowledgement of healthy change and the need to renew? no. it shall be an old fogey, soon to die. perhaps his old ways will pass with him. perhaps not.
around the same time that i began to look forward to the changing of the papacy, i also began to feel deep inside that it is time for a female president of the united states. and so now i re-turn my attention, and patiently pray on a bumper sticker i saw a few weeks ago: hillary and oprah 2008.
*(while i will not at this time begin a rant about the implications of vatican's incredibly vast horde, i will say this: when i attempted to enter the enclosed parts of the vatican (as opposed to the main piazza, into which you can just wander) the two italian guards checked my bag, as was their job. they found the swiss army knife that i'd been carrying all over the continent. they pointed to the five gallon drum for discards beside them. i gave a desparate glance to my traveling partner and said half to him and half to the guards, "this was my grandfather's knife. i can't leave it here. i can't go in." (it was totally true, but after spending a few weeks in italy i also understood the insane respect and reverence for family). they looked at me, let down their guard, lowered their voices, and made the appropriate hand gestures to indicate that i should put the knife in my bag and come on in. this was the greatest example of compassion i witnessed at the vatican.)
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