as said by my friend jess:

i'm not catholic, nor am i even christian.

but it takes a hell of a person to shoulder the spiritual weight of how many hundreds of millions of religious people. in the last few years, his head was always bent, and his shoulders drooping, and i would think about that burden he bears, and how it seemed like you could physically see it weighing him down.

i have a great deal of respect for a man who willingly takes on a weight like that, and then holds it aloft for 26 long years.

he deserves this much needed rest. i hope his next life is as fulfilling and positive as this one has been.

so god speed, and god bless Pope John Paul II.