I'm a pony

Sometimes simple wordplay makes me say and do amazingly silly things.

I'm suffering from a bit of laryngitis today. I'm generally feeling OK, just my voice is considerably softer and occasionally higher pitched than usual.

I went to the grocery store today. As I checked out, the cashier asked me how I was today.

"I'm a pony today," I responded in a gravely voice punctuated by its softness.

She gave me the strangest look a Wal-Mart cashier probably ever gave a customer. To answer her baffled look, I smiled.

"I'm a little hoarse today."

She just rolled her eyes.

'You care'

Compliments don't usually go to my head, but I heard one tonight that touched pretty deeply.

My niece, Katie, asked me tonight if I'd be her sponsor for confirmation next spring. I asked her why she chose me, and she said, "Because you care." I asked her what she thinks I care about, and she rattled off a list... about church, about my family, about her.

That's some compliment, when you think about it. Never mind the fact she's asking me to help her on that personal journey from being a child in the Catholic church to being an adult. Just to hear someone recognize that you care is something undescribable. I often pray for the guidance to do the right thing and to follow the path God sets before me. To hear a 14-year-old say she notices it, that's wonderful. To hear her say she thinks that makes me suitable to help her, that's even better.

We all hear compliments each day. I liked your story. You look nice today. I appreciate how hard you work. You offer a different perspective on things. You liven things up around here. You get the idea. I'm not sure I'll ever hear a better one than "you care."

Give Benedict a chance

Many more liberal Catholics keep ripping apart the College of Cardinals' selection of Joseph Ratzinger as the replacement as pope for the recently departed John Paul II. To them, I say this: Give Pope Benedict XVI a chance.

I don't know any more or less about him than anyone else does. But I do know the faith teaches us to give people a chance before we judge them.

Yes, he was a part of the Hitler Youth movement in Germany as a child. Like all German children at the time, he didn't have much of a choice. The financial implications for a child's parents were unbearable.

Yes, he was the "enforcer" as the head of the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith. Less than 100 years ago, that organization was called the Sacred Congregation of the Universal Inquisition, one with a dark past.

It was his job, his role to staunchly defend the Catholic faith. That's what that office does, rely on him to conservatively examine church teachings and offer opinions on issues of the day. That doesn't necessarily mean that's how he thinks the church should run, or that he'd turn a deaf ear to God if asked to change anything. It merely means that's what he used to do.

It saddens me to see a universally loved and appreciated figure such as Pope John Paul II, only to have his replacement lambasted by critics already. If he does something that offends you, then it's your right to nit-pick. Thus far, he seems to be doing and saying all the right things, from his promise to keep open relations with the Jewish church to his meek and humble approach to being the 265th pope.

Give him a chance. Judge not, lest ye be judged.