Project BLACK MAMBA

Today is the first memorial of Pope Saint John Paul II (1920-2005): Saint-link Eins, Saint-link Zwei, & Wikipedia-link.

Commentary: Many refer to the late pontiff as Saint John Paul the Great. While I do not dispute that he was great, I do not myself use the epithet mostly due to my discomfort with the ways the rules were bent to speed up his beatification & canonization. The whole point of the postmortem waiting period is to allow the passions of the moment to subside & cool reason to prevail; citing "extraordinary circumstances" in order to waive the waiting period is preposterous, as it appeals to the very passions a waiting period is meant to thwart. I protest neither that Saint John Paul II led a saintly life nor that he was great—He is yet great, in the heavenly choir!—, only the unseemly rush of those who call him "the Great."

Scripture of the Day
The Gospel according to Matthew, chapter nineteen.

Autobahn
Earlier this afternoon, the Lumi, the Distaff Son of the Mousemobile was cut off by a motorcar sporting the bumper sticker, "Look Out for Motorcycles." Given the offending driver's seeming failure to look out for the Lumi, might I recommend another bumper sticker, & an accompanying modification in behavior, "Look Out for Motorcars"?