The Pope and England: A Mystic’s Journal Entry April 4, 2005

Monday, April 4 9 p.m.

A small chill ran through me when I heard that Prince Charles had agreed to postpone his Royal Wedding to Camilla until Saturday. Apparently P.M. Tony Blair & the Archbishop of Canterbury put some pressure on him to do so, so they could attend the Pope’s funeral which is scheduled for Friday. Prince Charles agreed, & the Archbishop, Blair & Charles, representing England, will attend the funeral. Camilla will stay in England. The chill arose when the thought came to mind that this, in some way, was an effort (perhaps unconscious in the minds of those involved) to heal the religious rift caused by King Henry VIII.. As the Pope has apologized for the sins of the Catholic Church throughout history - in some small way, Prince Charles’ temporary postponement of his wedding, unsanctioned even by the Church of England, could be taken as a conciliatory gesture towards the Papacy for past disagreements & actions. Charles’ & the Archbishop’s presence at the Pope’s funeral further adds to this feeling. In a way, a small act of atonement, a way of rewriting history. M. thinks Charles mainly gave in because of pressures put upon him. Still, King Henry did not give in, & instead formed his own rival Church, the Church of England. (Not to mention the reign of persecution of Catholics that followed.) Prince Charles, on the other hand - in this case, put political & spiritual entente before his own personal feelings. I feel the presence of John Paul II. behind all these events. John Paul II. strove, throughout his life and Papacy, to mend past & present political & spiritual hurts, rivalries & injustices. He worked diligently & perseveringly to bring the man-made divisions on earth to Peace - so that we could all stand as one family under God, one humanity.

An amazing amount of information on this Pope is being given to the world just now. I did not realize that John Paul II., as a young man, was an actor, a playwright - & a poet, even while being the Vicar of Saint Peter. I will try to find a volume of his poetry; perhaps we will decide to study his poetic writings in meditation class.

On CNN, images of John Paul II., accompanied by a voice-over in his unmistakable Polish accent & cadence: "As Christians, we must spread the fragrance of Christ’s Teachings throughout the world." And a whiff of the sweet scent of flowers. I had been aware of them for quite some time, as I watched the CNN coverage. I turned to look at M. .... "The fragrance of Christ’s Teachings", I said & M. nodded.

I will add that to the definition of these supernatural fragrances we have been experiencing.

M. feels that the English do not feel that they need to apologize for anything, which could be true. M. also feels the above discussion it is far too political for a mystic’s Journal. I do not mean for this entry to be political, I am merely recording my thoughts & impressions, my reactions to events. I should probably look up the word "political" in the dictionary. In my own defense, the Pope himself was considered fairly political. M. also scribbled a short note in the margin of this Journal entry page with instructions on how to run our new dishwasher ...

JF came over for an hour or so, & we worked on editing the new interviews. I typed in corrections & additions tonight. We are more than half way through.