I have been glued to the television for about 24 hours, watching the news reports regarding the passing of Pope John Paul II. I think I was transfixed to the TV out of curiosity and admiration. Although I disagreed with much of what the Pope declared, I have a deep respect for his leadership for his faithful followers. In my heathen ways, I respect all forms of belief systems, religions and traditions - whether I agree with them or not. Everyone is entitled to their own relationship with a divine. And now my heart goes out to the millions of Catholics around the world in this time of mourning.

When my own words fail me, I often turn to this book to find a way to express myself:

Then Almitra spoke, saying, "We would ask now of Death."
And he said:
You would know the secret of death.
But how shall you find it unless you seek it in the heart of life?
The owl whose night-bound eyes are blind unto the day cannot unveil the mystery of light.
If you would indeed behold the spirit of death, open your heart wide unto the body of life.
For life and death are one, even as the river and the sea are one.
In the depth of your hopes and desires lies your silent knowledge of the beyond;
And like seeds dreaming beneath the snow your heart dreams of spring.
Trust the dreams, for in them is hidden the gate to eternity.
Your fear of death is but the trembling of the shepherd when he stands before the king whose hand is to be laid upon him in honour.
Is the shepherd not joyful beneath his trembling, that he shall wear the mark of the king?
Yet is he not more mindful of his trembling?
For what is it to die but to stand naked in the wind and to melt into the sun?
And what is to cease breathing, but to free the breath from its restless tides, that it may rise and expand and seek God unencumbered?
Only when you drink from the river of silence shall you indeed sing.
And when you have reached the mountain top, then you shall begin to climb.
And when the earth shall claim your limbs, then shall you truly dance.
-- from The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran, "On Death"