How is everyone doing? Check in here.

[RevCheesehead]

I am somewhere between mourning and celebration (re: the Pope).

I am also praying for peace. I am hoping that God will allow me to be a vessel for peace, and will protect me from perpetuating hate or misusing the Gospel for my own purposes.

[BelleCarolinaPeridot]

1. I am also somewhere between mourning and celebration ...

I felt a feeling of peace all weekend though ...

[RevCheesehead]

2. "I am happy.... you should be, too." -John Paul II

:hug: Peace to you, Carolina.

[BelleCarolinaPeridot]

3. Peace to you to RevCheesehead :)

:hug:

[Cuban_Liberal]

4. I'm better, thanks.

The deep grief has passed, and I find myself remembering more of the good things about His Holiness and his life.

:)

[Maru Kitteh]

5. Hi Pastor! I hope you've had a bit of chance to recover from holy week

I am happy for John Paull II that he was able to choose his end after a life of genuine effort. I admired the man though I disagreed with much of his positions on all kinds of things like ordaining women, married priests and abortion and birth control. I think he was an honest man with the best of intentions, a good man who was able to accomplish some outstanding things against all odds.

I hope the choice of the Roman church will bring them a new era of healing. For my stepdaughters sake, I hope their new pope is of a more progressive mind, particularly where women and their control of their bodies and minds are concerned.

[polmaven]

6. I'm finding myself in sympathy with my Catholic sisters and brothers,

while being slightly removed from the deep grief some of them are feeling.

I am also, while feeling frustrated at the wall to wall coverage on TV, searching on line for more info regarding the line of succession from Peter. More specifically...who succeeded Peter? (Turns out there is some dispute on that subject...surprise, surprise...Christians disputing Christian history!)

I was talking with my pastor on the phone tonight and she said her husband (also a UM pastor) had asked that question yesterday, so, naturally, now I really HAD to know.

But you know what I forgot to ask her? Maybe you know, Rev. I couldn't find the answer at umc.org...Has the United Methodist Church taken an "official" stand on the Schiavo matter?

[Princess Turandot]

7. Well, I think the official Catholic version is St. Linus..

here is a link from a Catholic Encyclopedia called New Advent.
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/12272b.htm
(I'm don't think this website has any official connection with the Church but rather accumulates info from other sites.)

You can click on the 2 one's name to read abt the controversy.
Some people believe that St. Clement was the second Pope.

[RevCheesehead]

19. Not on that specific situation, no.

My copy of the "Social Principles" is at the office, so I'm not even sure about what the UMC says about euthenasia. My suspicions are, if there is anything, it says that "it is an extremely personal decision, which should not be made lightly."

We're pretty liberal, socially.

[polmaven]

22. Well, yes, we're pretty liberal on some things,

but the conservative wing still wields a fairly large stick.

I'm referencing things like the schism proposal after the gay/lesbian issues at General this year....I mean...they got their way and still talked about splitting.

[RevCheesehead]

23. I was furious when I heard about that.

I wish the "Good News" folks would just pick up their toys and leave. They've made it perfectly clear that they are not in agreement with the UMC. "Their" seminary (Asbury) is NOT a UMC seminary (it is too conservative). "Their" magazine should be re-named "whining about the News," since they rarely, if ever, see good in any situation.

I met some of these people, the year I interned at a church near Lake Junaluska. They scared the shit out of me - and I'm pretty tough. They were courting me pretty heavy, until they discovered a true liberal heart beating in me. Then, they ignored me.

[murielm99]

24. My UMC church lost a couple of its very active members

over the gay/lesbian issue. One of them was delegate to the General.

They still help out individual members of their former church when there is need. They helped my son with his Eagle Scout project, and helped one of our church members sort through the insurance mess when her house burned to the ground.

When they had an open house for their new home, all our church members came, even the pastor. Everyone knows they are gay, and I only know of a handful of our members who object to them as people.

We still have one openly gay woman attending our church. Since she came out and started living with a woman, she has lost all her committee positions. She still attends, doggedly. It saddens me greatly.

My youngest daughter has turned her back on the church. This is one, but only one, of the reasons. I think she should work from within for change.

We have a UMC pastor in our community who is the minister for two of our rural churches. He has a special ministry for our gay community, which is actually rather large for a town of our size. He does this on his own. I don't know what the church would think if they knew.

[mrgorth]

8. Lousy

but don't mind me. I've been battling depression for a year.:(

[RevCheesehead]

12. I hear you.

I have chronic depression, myself. Meds help a lot, but in highly stressful times, I tend to slump pretty deep.

mrgorth, it's ok to let go here. That's why we are here - for each other - in our time of need.

:hug: to you.

[mrgorth]

16. Thanks.

[Sugarbleus]

9. I have a toothache...*ouch* Besides that, I feel alright

Pray for my dental appointment that it goes well.

In terms of the Pope, I think a great man left a great legacy. I sympathize with Catholics and respect their feelings. I did not spend all weekend watching; only the first few days last week. I was touched by the devotion to this Pope by followers. I was touched by the history of this Pope in terms of social policy.

While I didn't/don't agree with all the dogma/tenets, I can say John Paul did some remarkable things in his lifetime.

I also felt a stirring of spirit in my own right/belief system. That's a good thing, yes? ;)

....................
Thanks for allowing me to be in this forum. I too wish desperately for Peace. I think I've reached my limits of anger and rage in these last four years--it has consumed me and made me sick; it's time for me to find a peace in my life, a time for introspection. A time to enjoy the rapidly passing moments of my life...in Peaceful contemplation. A time to share that peace with others...

Blessings, SB

[supernova]

10. I'm ok

I'm not really part of the mourn the Pope crowd, though I do feel for those who take his loss personally. He was a very intelligent and caring man who did try to heal interfaith wounds.

I'm pretty much staying away from the TV coverage of it. I'll be more interested in whom they pick next.

[elshiva]

11. I'm OK. I'm grateful for DU.

Thank God for DU. Feeling like a loser, but a loser with friends. So it ain't that bad. Still very depressed. :cry:

[RevCheesehead]

13. All of us feel that way, from time to time.

As far as I'm concerned, elshiva, you're a winner in my book! :hug:

[elshiva]

18. Thank You! Blessings, Rev!

:hug:

[realisticphish]

14. understanding and fear

The pope's death does not hit me very hard, as I am not catholic, nor do I believe in any man being "holy" on earth. However, I do feel sorry that a man who did his best to follow the will of god has passed on. I also sympathise with my catholic brothers and sisters on here.

the fear comes from the next pope. while JPII was rather regressive on women's rights/ gay rights, he was very anti-war, and open to science. I am terrified of a hardcore, essentially neoconservative pope being elected. I pray that that will not come to pass

[Princess Turandot]

15. I feel surprisingly depressed..

I should add that I'm somewhat chronically depressed; it just feels worse now. I was pre-occupied with the coverage of the Pope and managed to completely forget to watch my favorite TV show tonight.

I did not agree with all of JP II's social views, but he was a man of astonishing intellect, something that always attracted me. One thing that saddens me a bit is that so much of the outpouring of sympathy for him is coming from non-American, non-Christian individuals.The list of dignitaries attending his funeral is nothing short of astonishing. The Presidents of Iran & Syria are attending. The Indian president expressed the gratitude that the Indian people felt for making 'their' Mother Teresa a saint so quickly.

An author who writes abt the Popes and other Catholic issues, wrote a somewhat nasty op-ed piece abt him in the NY Times this week, saying that he would be remembered as a great political leader but may have 'destroyed his church'. I have to wonder if what bothered him, in addition to this being a plug for a likely new book, was that his Church was no longer exclusively European & American. He accused JP II of believing that he was infallible long before he became Pope, a rather bizarre statement given that I cannot imagine that JP II ever expected to be Pope, and perhaps more importantly, displayed an utter lack of understanding, perhaps intentional, of what 'infallibility' means in the Catholic faith. It's been invoked only once in the 20th Century, more than 2o years before JP II became Pope and never by him.

On a more positive note, as a fan of that evil empire known as the NY Yankees, I was pleased to see that on opening day, they had their flag at half-mast, and before the singing of the National Anthem, asked and received a period of silence in his honor.

If you are interested in who is currently planning to attend his funeral, here is one list:

http://www.adn.com/24hour/special_reports/pope/story/2278112p-10470735c.html

Who on earth would have brought so many people together? May the Lord have mercy on whomever is drawing up the seating arrangements. I keep hoping that a dungeon or 2 might still be around in the bowels of the Vatican, which is where * deserves his seat!

[RevCheesehead]

20. I will admit to being a bit surprised at the American Catholic Church.

We are not Americans first, we are Christians. I thought that American Catholics would have a more global perspective, especially when it comes to the papacy.

And seriously, we are a sick culture, obsessed with ourselves and our perceived "needs," despite poverty, hunger, sickness, war, and death throughout the world. Maybe "our" needs can take a back seat (for once), when it comes to choosing the next Pope.

I trust the Holy Spirit to lead and guide the College of Cardinals in this awesome responsibility.

[kwassa]

17. I never had much feeling for John Paul II as a Pope or individual

not being Catholic, myself. I am struck by how he has seemed to touch the lives of so many, whether through the role of being Pope, or on a personal basis. While I like his human rights stands, I think his hard traditional theology is going to backfire on the church.

At the time he was elevated to Pope, I had thought it was done for politcal purposes, to revive and extend the power of the Church in former Communist countries, and to hasten the downfall of the communist government in Poland.

So, it hasn't affected my mood in any way, other than watching an interesting social phenomenon. It is also interesting me in the way the media process is focused on his passing to such an extent that it is performing an educational task. The endless tv coverage is showing many millions who know nothing about the papacy or the process of selecting a Pope how it is done.

What may be a critical factor in the future of the church is its ability to attract new candidates to become priests, which in itself may ultimately a huge problem, and hopefully bring about reform.

[RevCheesehead]

21. I think they need to seriously consider women.

It has done wonders for our denomination, IMO.

[kwassa]

26. I don't think mainstream denominations can survive without becoming

inclusive.

Holding fast to increasingly untenable theological positions will condemn the Catholic churches to irrelevancy, at least in the developed world.

[murielm99]

25. The thing that impressed me most about this Pope

happened long ago. He forgave his would-be assassin, and prayed with him.

To me, that was the most powerful display and statement of Christianity possible. I don't think I could be that forgiving. I know that forgiveness is something I need to work on. My husband is a good example to me.

My daughter is in Mexico right now. I sent my condolences to her host mother. She was so touched that I was taken aback. My daughter says that the people in her part of Mexico were proud that the pope vised them. He was the only pope ever to travel to Mexico.

That made me realize that I admire this pope for another reason. It is one thing to be the top figure of a powerful and influential church, but quite another to be a pastor. He was a pastor.

Of course I could never agree with his social conservatism. But he tried to live a Christ-like life. I could work on that myself.

[RFKHumphreyObama]

27. My emotions are conflicted on Pope John Paul II

On the one hand, he had to endure a tremendous amount of illness and discomfort during his final years and one of the aspects that I most admired about him was his strength of character and resolve to perform his duties to his last breath despite all his ailments. For me, it is a tribute to his deep and profound faith and commitment to serving the Lord that he was able to do so. I know it is not our place for us to judge where someone goes in the next life but I can't help believing that the Pope has moved on to Paradise. In fact, the day his death was announced, I kept imagining him entering Heaven and being reunited with all his family and friends and walking alongside the Lord. And so I'm happy for him because I think he is enjoying eternal life and walking with his Creator

On the other hand, I miss him so much. He was the only Pope I've ever known and it was reassuring just to know that he was there in the Vatican and for me he was the one example of inspirational and courageous leadership left in the modern world. While I disagreed with some of his views on social issues, I never doubted the passion of his belief and I admired the visionary leadership and good judgment that he showed in so many other areas. So I'm still coping with that. Even though I'm not Catholic, he had such a big impact on my life and I'm going to miss him