I am sharing here a moving piece about radical kindness from a newsletter I receive from Barbara Shipka (https://kaleidoscopelenses.com/tribute-popes-radical-kindness/)
“I only met Pope Francis once. It was brief. Just a few moments in a crowded room filled with dignitaries and seekers, some there out of duty, others out of belief. I was neither Catholic nor there on some divine pilgrimage. I was just a man in need of a little hope. And somehow, in that fleeting encounter, I received it.
It’s hard to explain without sounding overly romantic, but when you’re in the presence of someone truly good — not performing to be good, not publicly moral or selectively kind — but genuinely, deeply, relentlessly good… something shifts in you. You feel lighter. You feel braver. You feel like humanity, for all its wounds and wickedness, is still worth fighting for.
That was the gift Pope Francis gave me. And I imagine, from the tears I’ve seen today and the aching silences of millions across faiths, races, and borders, that he gave that same gift to many.
Today, we mourn not just the passing of a Pope. We mourn the loss of one of the strongest chess pieces humanity had on this plane of existence.
He was a man who made kindness radical again. Who reminded the powerful that humility was not weakness; who spoke of love not as doctrine but as duty. He was not just a religious man. He was something far more rare — he was universally spiritual.
I am a Hindu. My God wears different names. My prayers come in different rhythms. But I would have followed this man through fire. Because in his belief in God, he carried a belief in all of us. His eyes didn’t see denominations — they saw dignity. His voice, always soft but never weak, carried the weight of truth even when it unsettled the comfortable. Especially when it unsettled the comfortable.
This world has a way of chipping away at your soul. The noise, the greed, the hate, the empty rituals that masquerade as faith or patriotism or family values. It’s easy to go numb. It’s easy to give in to cynicism. But once in a while, someone comes along who reminds us that the better angels of our nature are still within reach; that goodness is still possible. That we don’t need to be perfect to do good — we just need to be brave.
Pope Francis was that man. He chose love over doctrine. He chose compassion over judgment. And most remarkably, he chose action over applause. He walked with the poor. He knelt before the discarded. He challenged the powerful not with anger, but with moral courage. And he did all of this with a smile that felt like a prayer.
He understood something many religious leaders forget: that God doesn’t reside only in temples or churches or mosques. That holiness isn’t a place — it’s a way of living. A way of seeing others. A way of choosing kindness, over and over, even when it hurts.
So yes, today we mourn. I mourn. Not just for the Catholic world, but for all of us. Because when a man like this leaves, it feels like a light has been dimmed. But maybe — just maybe — the way we honour him is by becoming the light ourselves.”
Vinod Sekhar
Thanks for sharing this. I was touched and inspired by it. It reminded me of a quote I recently read from the Dalai Lama:
“The plain fact is that the planet does not need more successful people. But it does desperately need more peacemakers, healers, restorers, storytellers, and lovers of every kind. It needs people who live well in their places. It needs people of moral courage willing to join the fight to make the world habitable and humane. And these qualities have little to do with success as we have defined it.” -The Dalia Lama
Thanks for this Jack – you (and the Dalai Lama) are always inspiring! I like to describe the two aspects of our lives as, “The Social Self” which measures life outside of ourselves and measures success, and “The Essential Self” which measures life internally and measures joy. Which one we choose most, determines our lives.
Thank you for sharing this, Lance. Tears are streaming as I write this.
Tears for how much of our potential we have squandered? But as long as each person we individually touch feels blessed not diminished, we are changing the world – right?
Thank you for sharing; Vinod’s awe is deeply touching…
Nora thanks for your comment. Come and visit us for a shot of inspiration: https://secretan.com/inspiration-cloud/
Hi Lance. It’s been too long since I last heard your voice, but I still carry the things I learned from you over 20 years ago in my heart. Thanks for sharing this, it arrives at a low period in how I am feeling about life, the universe and everything, and reminds me that good people, yourself included, are still out there exhibiting the power of radical kindness.
Jim its so good to hear from you. Come and join us next Thursday for our regular weekly “Inspiration in the Cloud” session – https://www.secretan.com/inspiration-cloud. You will love the lift it will bring to your spirit, and it would be great to see you again.