(Source:  AP/Yahoo)

I'm not a Catholic, but I haven't known another pope in my lifetime.  In fact, I was born four months before he became pope.

He is more than just a religious leader.  He is one of the most influential leaders of global politics, and he's traveled all over the world.  He stood up against Communism in his native country, Poland.  Of course, there's several times he's disagreed with American policies, but he's always been a man of principle and of conviction.  Just as I stated when Ronald Reagan died, this is a man who's lived a full life and deserves all of the blessings that are to be bestowed upon him in the afterlife.

When you look men like these, it can make you feel guilty, because those men oftentimes have done more good in one day than most of us do all of our lives.  The people they touch, the hope they've brought to the hopeless is unparalled.  You see thousands of people around the world holding vigils for the Pope, and then you say to yourself, "What have I done today?"

There have indeed been some men that aren't deserving of the praise they get in life or death.  But Pope John Paul II isn't one of them.  May his pain be light as he ends his majestic journey through life.