#PopeInPhilly Thoughts

I love learning about other cultures. It began when I was in 5th grade (Hamilton) and had a classmate who was of Asian decent. In middle school, I was privileged to be acquainted with children from many backgrounds. My lessons in cultural competence didn't come through formal lessons, but in the friendships I formed in middle school (Masterman Middle) and in high school (Bodine High).

Ever since, I've enjoyed learning about people of other backgrounds and persuasions.

I've traveld to England and France ('97), Ghana, Togo, Nigeria, and Switzerland ('02) and Canada (I forget the year, lol, smh).

I recently renewed my Passport and have plans to travel to Jamaica next March.

The Pope is in the United States. Even though I'm not Catholic, I do not have to be in order to recognize the historical significance of his visit to the United States and in particular, my hometown of Philadelphia. I also don't have to be Catholic to sit, watch, and learn something about a religious culture different from my own.

I've been watching the coverage in the weeks leading up to this and am doing so as I type and am learning quite a bit.

Switching gears a bit...

Admittedly, I was one of the critics about how Philadelphia was preparing for this event. The attack was not intended for the Pope or on the Catholic Church, but more on the irony of this city that included long walks for the feeble, the whisking away of the homeless, and how many very small businesses (taxi drivers, vendors, small cafes) would lose out on significant weekend money to make ends meet, all in the name of the Pope who is considered the people's Pope.

The Hiatus

It's been just over a month since my lost post. I love writing and have often said on twitter than when I get frustrated, I write. And have. And do. And love it.

Just a few days after my last post on 8/21, the man who had been my Pastor for more than 28 years passed away and that knocked all of the wind out of me. He had a heart attack and there was no way you could get me to believe that he wasn't going to recover from that. People have heart attacks all the time and survive. Well, Bishop William Fleming Todd, Sr. did not survive.

I cried, a lot. My writing...wasn't on here.
Instead, I wrote for others, with others, and from a place I hadn't been in a very long time, grief. Real, genuine, authentic, and I'm going to use the term audacious, grief. My posts on other platforms were random and incoherent blather! That's why my grief was audacious, I let friends and family into a world of mine normally guarded, where words about thoughts are carefully chosen, precisely picked, and very intentional.

I've had thoughts on many topics, events, and the such, but could only manage 140 characters at a time unless I was writing about Bishop Todd....Pastor Todd, my beloved Pastor, a man I've known all my life and a man whom I will miss dearly!

I've said that going back to work will definitely be a distraction in more ways than one and the School District of Philadelphia has definitely not "disappointed" at all.

So that's been the hiatus, my longer than usual gap between ">140 Characters" posts.