The Pope Has Died
Pope John Paul II has died and around the world, people are mourning the loss of someone they felt connected to. He made appearances, spoke on issues of the day and said what he thought. Even if it wasn’t always popular.
His views on birth control, poverty and the conduct of priests may have seemed contrary to many but nonetheless he said what he had to say. And now that he has died, people everywhere mourn the loss of someone they never met but nonetheless still felt connected to, someone who spoke out.
So often in life, we take care not to offend, never to rock the boat, not to stand out or stand up and be counted. We seek to live quiet inoffensive lives that often demands a level of compromise that shows in silence. Now, I’m not saying we should seek to be offensive or opinionated but maybe if we learn one lesson from the life of Pope John Paul II it can be is this. You can believe in something, stand up for something and still be liked and respected.
Maybe everyone won’t agree with you all the time, and maybe there will be differences of views between you and those you love. But that doesn’t mean that a part of the uniqueness that is you should be shut away forever. Speak up against social wrongs, work hard to help the oppressed, if necessary be unpopular sometimes - but always for a purpose larger than yourself.
That way, if people remember you, they’ll be able to remember not just your face, or laugh or food they’ll be able to remember your values and the difference you made in the world. And you would have used the life God gave you well.
“The living at least know they will die, but the dead know nothing. They have no further reward, nor are they remembered.
Whatever they did in their lifetime—loving, hating, envying—is all long gone. They no longer play a part in anything here on earth.
Ecclesiastes 9:5-6 (NLT)