The Passage of Time and John Paul II
The passing of Pope John Paul II has caused me to pause and reflect. Not so much on his papacy; there will be millions of words written on that, and I have nothing useful to contribute to them. I am not Catholic but have always thought of him with respect and admiration for the extraordinary person he was, and his monumental place in recent history.
No, my reflections are more about time.
If you are my age (50) there have been five popes during your lifetime: Pius XII (1939-58), John XXIII (1958-63), Paul VI (1963-78), John Paul I (1978), and John Paul II. You probably don't remember Pius at all, and maybe have a dim memory of John, particularly if you're Catholic. Then, it seems (at least to me,) that Paul was pope forever and ever amen. Then came John Paul I, who was pope for what -- a few minutes? Days? Months? The main thing I remember about John Paul I is the dark speculation that he was murdered. And, since I was working in Top 40 radio at the time, my colleagues and I decided that the pope to succeed John Paul should call himself George Ringo I. Har, har, what clever fellows we were.
I was living and working in Honolulu then, and it really doesn't seem all that long ago. Or, it didn't until someone pointed out yesterday that there are young priests and older seminary students who have never known of any other pope except John Paul II. He has held the papal throne for twenty-six years.
It's the same sort of sobering revelation I get when I realize that someone who was born on the day Apollo 11 landed on the moon is now 36, and has never lived in a time in which mankind was Earthbound. Of course things sort of fell apart and for all intents and purposes, we're still Earthbound, but that's beside the point.
When we were kids, virtually all old people were born in the 1800's. My maternal grandfather was born in 1898, and my great-grandfather was born in 1868. He died in 1963, so I remember him fairly well. He ultimately became the historian of Chemung County, New York, and that's where Mark Twain lived when he died in 1910. Grandpa Wilcox worked in the Elmira post office at the turn of the century, and had a passing acquaintance with him. So as a child, I actually spoke with someone who had spoken with Mark Twain. This fascinates me.
But it is the relentless passage of time that the passing of Pope John Paul II brings into sharp focus. In recent pictures, he's frail, sickly.... old. It seems as though there was no transition between the robust, athletic John Paul, and the John Paul who has now reached the end of his life.
Wasn't it just the other day when he was skiing in the Alps? Wasn't it?
No, my reflections are more about time.
If you are my age (50) there have been five popes during your lifetime: Pius XII (1939-58), John XXIII (1958-63), Paul VI (1963-78), John Paul I (1978), and John Paul II. You probably don't remember Pius at all, and maybe have a dim memory of John, particularly if you're Catholic. Then, it seems (at least to me,) that Paul was pope forever and ever amen. Then came John Paul I, who was pope for what -- a few minutes? Days? Months? The main thing I remember about John Paul I is the dark speculation that he was murdered. And, since I was working in Top 40 radio at the time, my colleagues and I decided that the pope to succeed John Paul should call himself George Ringo I. Har, har, what clever fellows we were.
I was living and working in Honolulu then, and it really doesn't seem all that long ago. Or, it didn't until someone pointed out yesterday that there are young priests and older seminary students who have never known of any other pope except John Paul II. He has held the papal throne for twenty-six years.
It's the same sort of sobering revelation I get when I realize that someone who was born on the day Apollo 11 landed on the moon is now 36, and has never lived in a time in which mankind was Earthbound. Of course things sort of fell apart and for all intents and purposes, we're still Earthbound, but that's beside the point.
When we were kids, virtually all old people were born in the 1800's. My maternal grandfather was born in 1898, and my great-grandfather was born in 1868. He died in 1963, so I remember him fairly well. He ultimately became the historian of Chemung County, New York, and that's where Mark Twain lived when he died in 1910. Grandpa Wilcox worked in the Elmira post office at the turn of the century, and had a passing acquaintance with him. So as a child, I actually spoke with someone who had spoken with Mark Twain. This fascinates me.
But it is the relentless passage of time that the passing of Pope John Paul II brings into sharp focus. In recent pictures, he's frail, sickly.... old. It seems as though there was no transition between the robust, athletic John Paul, and the John Paul who has now reached the end of his life.
Wasn't it just the other day when he was skiing in the Alps? Wasn't it?
posted by Steve @ 4/02/2005 06:55:00 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home