“Sounds like a new age to me.” That was a response I received from a recent Facebook posting I made regarding Pope Francis’ historic U.S. visit. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could help connect the dots as we hear the Peoples’ Pope’s loving message today, so resonant with the timeless evergreen healing words of the Dalai Lama and Desmond Tutu, Martin Luther King, Jr. and Mahatma Gandhi, Dag Hammarskjold, Dorothy Day, Reinhold Niebuhr, and so many others who can no longer be seen merely as like voices crying in the wilderness? It is our wilderness, and we must do all we can to protect and save it, paying it forward to the next generations if we care about them and a sane and sustainable future to be possible.
In a July Time magazine article, His Holiness the Dalia Lama was asked his thoughts on Pope Francis. His Holiness’ answer was,
“Recently he also has been showing genuine concern about the environment. Wonderful. A spiritual leader should speak — these are global issues. So I admire [him].”
The good Pope is a true servant leader and shepherd, bringing others home ahead of himself– just like the greatest of bodhisattva-saints. I pray for his health, longevity and flourishing in all his altruistic works, and that he may be able to genuinely usher Peter’s church into the new world today. It takes a village-like heart of openness, warm and empathic as his! I hope you will join me in embracing this man and his message, this vital juncture, this learning moment.
