On the Pope Stepping Down

I played a platform tennis match where the two women opponents either seriously underestimated my partner’s and my ability or greatly over estimated theirs’. And so the first two of the required three sets was a winning blowout on our side of the court.

One of the opposing players in no uncertain terms was displeased about the score. And so she turned to her partner and said I don’t want to play a third set. Let’s just forfeit and go home.

But her partner, clearly embarrassed by the displayed unsportsmanlike  behavior , responded with We have to play—We have to finish—the team expects to at least try and get one set.

We live in a world where commitment is of decreasing value. Changing cars and houses and jobs has become too easy. People expect instant everything—even in their relationships.

It’s all about speed and moving on to the next big thing.

There is no resolve to tough it out.

And when I woke up yesterday morning and heard that the Pope was quitting his job you could have knocked me over with a feather.

The reasons cited were his failing health.

I thought Are you serious? It’s been 600 years since a pope stepped down—and that was a political decision. Aren’t all popes infirmed by the end of their papacy? Many I am sure must have been feeble—in mind and/or body—and yet they sucked it up because that is what they signed up for. Maybe this is something Pope Benedict should have thought about before he accepted the papal duty at age 78. I thought the pope’s job was supposed to be in sickness and in health until death do us part. I thought his election was a lifetime commitment—like marriage. Somehow I do not recall Jesus hanging on the cross and saying Wow this crucifixion thing is too physically challenging—I wanna quit being the Lamb of God.

And while the two opponents did play the final third set of the platform tennis match—they still lost—although the score was much tighter and the points were more competitive. The two women fulfilled their commitment—ultimately they did not walk away when the going got tough.

And while the Vatican’s spin on the pope’s resignation is that it is a self-less act; for me---not so much. I feel like he is a quitter. I feel as though he has assumed the path of his future—an assumption he is not omniscient to make. And instead of having faith, he has chosen a  kind of papal euthanasia.