Long may Pope Francis’ flag wave

“Oh, so you drank the Kool-Aid,” my neighbor superciliously sneered from the stoop he occupies each afternoon to sip wine and critique people’s parking skills on our beloved Olive Street.

I did, I confessed. I grabbed the pope’s chalice, gulped it down and asked for more. It was magical. Palliative. Heavenly. For a few hours, I felt un-cynical. I wanted to be a better person and say nice things about Donald Trump. I wanted to invite strangers into my home, wash their feet and feed them fishes and loaves.

I wanted to convert.

And then morning came, the dog barked, (no cocks crowing, thankfully) and reality lifted me from the reverie of prayer and pressed me into the friction of deadlines, bills and the blasted construction site behind my house going on two years now. I washed my own feet, ate a gruel of hot oats, and cursed the blithering, bombastic, baying of the anti-pope – You-Know-Who.

My snap-back to everydayness is not meant to diminish the joyous occasion of Francis’ visit to the nation’s capital. Long his admirer, I love his kindness, his gentle ways, his genuine affection for the poor and downtrodden. I love his openness, his call for tolerance and inclusivity, his appeal to our better angels. He makes me happy.

I also love the Golden Rule, which was Francis’ resounding message to the U.S. Congress. “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” It’s a simple sentiment that pretty well sums up the practices of Christianity. All of the doctrinal debate and theological parsing of Scripture can be reduced to these 11 words.

The brilliance of Francis’ address to America’s leadership and to el pueblo – the people – was his nuanced approach to our most divisive challenges – immigration, climate change, the sanctity of life. Careful not to preach, he encouraged thinking of a higher order.

Without naming abortion, he said we should protect human life at all its stages. Applying the Golden Rule, would we want to have been aborted, we asked ourselves? The answer lies in the question, which can only be asked of the living.

From this subliminal suggestion, Francis segued to the death penalty and his hope that all nations would put an end to it. What else would the Vicar of Christ say? The most consequential state-ordered death penalty in human history created a movement and a faith that beseeched us to forgive those who trespass against us, to love our enemies and to turn the other cheek.

Most of us can’t dwell in this holy realm in our daily lives, but we can easily remember the Golden Rule, which is a decent start to any day.

In this spirit, fine: May Donald Trump have a good hair day.

And long may the Pope’s flag wave.