Call to Greatness

So I spent much of this afternoon close to tears. I sat at my desk at work and listened to my iPod. I listened to the story of Pope John Paul II's death and it broke my heart. The pope died the way he said we should live by taking advantage of every breath of life he had in his body.

So I listened to this and started thinking about the pope's life and what he stood for. Many people have qualms with him and the Catholic Church for the stance they hold on artificial birth control and abortion, but their position is the only consistent one I see. The position that the Church, and through that, the pope holds is that life is sacred from beginning to the end. And that is EVERY life. Not just the lives of loved ones. Or that's not just the lives of Americans. The church means the life of all 6 billion people living on this planet and the millions of the unborn.

Now, I don't want to get all religious or start a debate on when life begins and whether the birth control is OK because that's not what I mean to write about. What I want to write about is this undying love of life that the pope had and encouraged each and every one of us - Catholic or not - to live. By living, that means enjoying every moment to its fullest. It means serving each other. It means respecting each other.

When I look around at what is happening I see great things. My boy The Edge joined in the benefit concert for the victims of New Orleans. Then Bono asked President Bush to up the amount the United States gives in foreign aid - 1 percent of the U.S. budget goes to needy nations. Bill Gates is paying for half the world's health care. Debt in Africa has been greatly reduced, which will allow the countries on the continent to build up their infrastructure and improve quality of life there.

But are we doing enough for each other. Have I helped my neighbor today? No. Did I help my neighbor yesterday? I doubt it. What am I doing except trying to take care of myself? Nothing. I am called to do something more than that. We all are. The No. 1 person we should be concerned about isn't ourselves. The person I should be concerned for is you, whoever is reading this. It's the person who is standing on the sidewalk begging for just a little bit of change. It's the depressed woman at work who just needs a hug or someone to talk to, but no one will listen.

I don't know. The older I get, the more I realize I'm not even close to being where I need to be. The pope reminded us that we are all called to be saints; for those who don't believe that, believe that we are all called to be great. The world works best when we are serving each other and living to the fullest.