Sic
Sic hints at
possible run for papacy
Are you one of those who ruthlessly rips the wrapping from
Christmas gifts, or do you ease them out before neatly folding the paper? Or do
you simply redirect the gifts to Sic in appreciation of -- whatever?
* * *
Were confident 1998 will be the breakthrough year of
Sics first infallible pronouncement. Still, were not entirely sure.
The voice whispering in our ear may be Sics hearing aid.
* * *
Prelate in a glasshouse: Archbishop Estanislao Esteban Karlic,
president of the Argentine Episcopal Conference, complaining that groups such
as the International Monetary Fund were not answerable to the people: We
cannot leave ourselves at the whims of someone we did not elect.
* * *
Jacinta Mann from Greensburg, Pa., on the Internet writes that our
own pope, on his last U.S. trip, asked the chauffeur if he might drive the limo
to the airport. The chauffeur did what any chauffeur would do: He got into the
back seat. Soon John Paul was barreling down Route 95 at 90 miles an hour.
When he hears the siren and sees the flashing lights, he pulls
over. The cop takes one look and discretion dictates that he call headquarters:
Ive got a really important person pulled over.
Not Trump again? says the chief.
No, more important than that.
You mean, its the governor?
Bigger than that.
Must be the president then?
More important than that.
So who the heck is it? yells the chief.
I dont know, says the trooper, but
hes got the pope for chauffeur.
* * *
Cynics may say the above makes a mockery of Sic standards. But
what if the story is true? Between quantum theory, relativity bending time and
space this way and that, cyberstuff, quarks and Our Lady appearing on tree
trunks, how do you know that John Paul isnt -- hey, and dont forget
cloning -- that the pope isnt playing tricks with reality, and anyway
recent visitors to Rome say theres speculation the pope may no longer be
the guy in the drivers seat either but perhaps more sinister forces are
issuing papal bulls and stuff, its hard to be sure once you concede that
reality is already all bent out of shape.
(Note to our self: fertile ground for infallibility here; so
obscure that even if were wrong well never get caught.)
* * *
Your Sic Eminence, an anonymous letter begins,
we in our household voted for you over Dave Barry to send this material
to. (No matter what comes next, it cant get any better.)
The material was in part a news clip: About 20
self-proclaimed witches, from at least two Kitsap County covens, attended the
monthly meeting of the Interfaith Alliance of Kitsap County. The witches were
invited, along with a rabbi and three Christian pastors, to discuss Is
Halloween a religious holiday?
The story doesnt mention whether the rabbi and pastors were
also self-proclaimed.
* * *
The same anonymous household goes further: Will Sic consider
taking the name of Nemo I when the white smoke appears after the next
conclave? (This, as everyone knows, is a reference to Sics recent
red hat.)
Sic wishes to take this opportunity: If elected, we will
serve.
We prefer the simple Nemo to Nemo I, which presupposes an eventual
Nemo II, which we think is a long shot.
* * *
But lets, for a minute, not talk about our self. The limo
story goes to show the pope remains, when all is said and done, an ordinary
man. After years of popemobiles and pomp, of course he wants to drive like hell
down some U.S. highway in a big consumer-happy limousine.
Now observe him as he wakes up some morning in the papal apartment
and thinks to himself: not another day of pomp and pressing the flesh and
signing silly documents for those curial monsignori. So he says to an
important monsignor: I need a break. You be the pope until further
notice.
* * *
The observant reader may be saying no monsignor over there looks
like the pope. This is to overlook the aforementioned relativity, quarks and
workings of the Holy Spirit. Reality doesnt run in a straight line.
And furthermore, one can only imagine what the pope hears through
his hearing aid. Someone should do a dissertation on that.
* * *
These true stories came to Sic via modern technology:
Two Eskimos sitting in a kayak were chilly, but when they lit a
fire in the craft it sank -- proving once and for all you cant have your
kayak and heat it, too.
Two boll weevils grew up in South Carolina. One went to Hollywood
and became famous, while the other stayed behind in a cotton field and never
amounted to much. The second, naturally, became known as the lesser of two
weevils.
A three-legged dog walks into a saloon in the Old West. He
shuffles up to the bar and announces: Im looking for the man who
shot my paw.
Did you hear about the Buddhist who refused his dentists
Novocain during root canal work? He wanted to transcend dental medication.
* * *
This is a very busy time for God, who is always credited with
winning key football games late in the season. An L.A. Times article by
Robert Sheer cites quarterback Randall Cunningham: Why would God have me
sit out last year, bring me back to be in the playoffs and then win a playoff
game? That just doesnt happen. Its awesome.
Losing quarterbacks, by contrast, are so depressed after a big
loss that they forget to blame God.
Says Green Bays Ross Verba, who is a league leader in
fights: I play the way I play and I think the Lord honors that. If Jesus
played left tackle for the Green Bay Packers, hed want to go out and do
the best he could, for sure.
And Coach Iron Mike Ditka, once mean and profane and
winning with Chicago but now converted and meek and losing with, yes, the New
Orleans Saints: Strong spiritual beliefs are essential to get through
life, but that dont mean were not going to try to kick the other
guys ass.
Concludes Sheer: So much for turning the other cheek.
National Catholic Reporter, January 23,
1998
|