"We want him to be standing there on the balcony"

"We want a spiritual father. We want someone who stands for what is difficult and right, what is impossible but true," writes Peggy Noonan in the one we've been waiting for, her Opinion Journal homily on Benedict XVI, "Why They Ran":

Being human we don't always or necessarily want to live by the truth or be governed by it. But we are grateful when someone stands for it. We want him to be standing up there on the balcony. We want to aspire to it, reach to it, point to it and know that it is there.

John Paul II was a great man.  We all knew that.  Funny how we all knew.  And so when word spread that he was dead, they came running.

And because they came running, because four million people engulfed Rome after his death, the eyes of the world were suddenly trained on John Paul's funeral, which was suddenly an event.

Because the world watched the funeral, they noticed the man who celebrated the mass and gave the eulogy. John Paul II had picked him for that role. He spoke with love. He said John Paul, the old man who always came to the window to greet the crowds and pray with them, was now, today, right at this moment, at the window of his father's house. It was beautiful and poetic and people -- cardinals -- who watched and listened to the speaker thought: Yes, that's true. And the man who was speaking, who even 10 years ago was considered too old and controversial for the job, was suddenly seen by his fellow cardinals, one after the other, as the future pope.

Peggy's poetry resonates (we're tearing up and shivering a bit in recognition here). "Funny how we all knew." Exactly. You didn't have to be Catholic or even a member of any particular religion to love John Paul II, and unless you were predisposed to hate the church, you might want to learn more about Benedict XVI's vision before trashing him out of hand. Peggy's thoughts recall Michael Novak's prospect -- expressed days before the white smoke rose from the Vatican and blogged here -- of "an enormous intellectual contribution to the world's understanding of itself" were Cardinal Ratzinger to mount the papal bully pulpit. Peggy continues:

The choosing of Benedict XVI, a man who is serious, deep and brave, is a gift. He has many enemies. They imagine themselves courageous and oppressed. What they are is agitated, aggressive, and well-connected.

They want to make sure his papacy begins with a battle. They want to make sure no one gets a chance to love him. Which is too bad because even his foes admit he is thoughtful, eager for dialogue, sensitive, honest.

What to do to help? See his enemies for what they are, and see him for what he is. Read him -- he is a writer, a natural communicator of and thinker upon challenging ideas. Listen to him. Consult your internal compass as you listen, and see if it isn't pointing true north.

At a news conference in Rome yesterday, the American cardinals acknowledged their concern that some American Catholics might prejudge the new pope by his reputation as cardinal, reports the New York Times (we happened to catch part of the conference yesterday when CNN interrupted its early-morning show). Said the archibishop of Los Angeles:

We just have to be very careful about caricaturing the Holy Father and very simply putting labels upon this man of the church. I've already seen some headlines in our country doing that, and I think that's a mistake.

The Bene bashing is already in full swing in the media and the blogosphere, of course.  It reminds us of Bush bashing, an angry, mindless negativity based not upon facts and thoughtful reflection but upon hysterical, pre-packaged feelings of rage and resentment.  Same tune, different words. Forgive them, for they know not what they do?

Comments

[goomp]

Relativism is a ship without a compass. The helmsmen steer this way and that arriving upon whatever disastrous shore appears. Their anger focuses upon those who are guided through life by a needle that is directed by a magnetic force. How's that for an allegory?

[Sissy Willis]

Metaphorically speaking, this boat will float. :)

[goomp]

And the Old Salt is at the helm.