Ni hablar De la Suegra : Pope Francis and his message of hope

It seems these days the world is becoming increasingly polarized. There is an air of both blissful indifference and wanton abuse of the environment, the poor, the unfortunate and there are few voices out there among world leaders that bother. Pope Francis is a welcome and bold exception. If an alien civilization were to watch us from space somewhere, they would breathe a sigh of both relief and appreciation for the pontiff 's fearless approach to the huge problems of inequality and violence that are darkening our planet. The humanitarian tragedy of the millions of Syrian refugees fleeing a seemingly endless and brutal civil war in their country is reason enough to be concerned. So is the posturing and hesitation on behalf of well to do countries worldwide who show an attitude of chilling indifference. The fact that worldwide the poor are getting poorer, and the rich are getting richer, even in the US, is very disturbing, and the circus the election of 2016 is already turning into, is not cause for reassurance. The visit of Pope Francis to the US added a sudden feel of hope and warmth, a desire to be inspired by the pontiff 's humility and positive energy, his willingness to speak unpleasant truths and to call for humanity, for compassion and kindness, for generosity by the well to do, for tolerance, for peace, for cooperation, all virtues that seem to be slipping from the world stage. It was good to see that the concert for Global Citizen awareness coincided with the Pope's visit here. The internal politics of strife, narrow mindedness and selfishness that are dominating the news here the last years are very discouraging to the younger generation. The old guard seems to want to turn the clock back to a time when there were no civil rights for women, minorities, the poor and the elderly. We seem to have gone backwards to a despicable time when the wealthy were convinced that if you were poor or mistreated or infirm, it was because you were too stupid to be otherwise. Pope Francis is a wonderful reminder that Christ said to take care of the poor and the infirm, the weak, the disenfranchised. A whole different brand of so called Christians are trying to turn compassion and fairness on its head in favour of a tyrannical and cynical philosophy of might is right, and whoever disagrees is my enemy, very much like dictatorial regimes. Tyrannical regimes have no sense of humour, no nuance. They rule by fear, by force. It is not very hopeful that some of the elements in our own Congress seem to favour that approach. How unsavory and embarrassing. Which brings to mind the pontiff 's great and nuanced sense of humour. His empathy with family life is telling : "... A veces los platos se van volando. Los ninos traen dolores de cabeza, y ni hablar de la suegra ! ", " ... Sometimes dishes will go flying, children can bring headaches, and let's not talk about mother in laws !" That kind of humanity, that kind of ability as a world religious leader who inspires people to be kinder, gentler, fairer, while at the same time staying in touch with the reality of every day life is precisely what makes his words, his message so hopeful, so feasible in spite of overwhelming odds. Pope Francis is one of those rare human beings who makes you want to be a better person, who makes people believe they each on an individual basis can and should make a difference. I think the temperature of all of our hearts here warmed several degrees while the pontiff was here, and I think it dropped significantly when he returned to Vatican City. One journalist, a woman, said she felt Pope Francis was so effective in reaching people with his message because he is  ruled by his heart and thus, he is free. Ruled by the heart. I can only hope the condition is contagious for all those who were blessed by the pontiff 's presence, prayer, words, love and kindness. Perhaps like the Grinch's heart, his influence will grow the world's heart a size or two bigger. Greed, power, selfishness, cruelty and brutality are shrinking our planet's heart and soul at an alarming rate. Pope Francis knows it and is doing everything he can to cure our world of a deadly epidemic of stone cold numbness and indifference.  We are signing our own doom if we let the fires in our hearts, our capacity for compassion, courage and fairness, go dormant and die.