The following essay was posted on DKos on September 24 of last year, during the Pope's visit to the U.S. I think it's worth a revisit.

I Cried Two Times Last Night

I’m fairly stoic. I think I’ve cried a couple of times before in my adult life – and I’m nearly 65. From my teen years I have been a committed agnostic and a sometimes scathing rationalist, with Bertrand Russell as my guiding light. I’ve never had any use for religious dogma intervening in political affairs. Witness the atrocities and the subjugation of women practiced by Moslem extremists; the slow-motion genocide of the Palestinian people driven by the fanatic Jewish West Bank settlers; and the stigmization of gays and the abrogation of women’s reproductive rights advocated by Christian sects in the U.S. Not to mention all the catastrophic wars motivated by religious divisions.

Last night I was watching Rachel Maddow. She showed a park bench in Washington D.C. on which a blanketed homeless person appeared to be lying. On getting closer, it became apparent that the “homeless person” was in fact a metal sculpture. The camera focused on the feet of the statue. There were gouges in each foot – clearly they represented the wounds of crucifixion inflicted on Christ. My mind flashed to the most profound passage in the Bible, in which the Rabbi Jesus – a continuator of a liberal Rabbinnical tradition dating back at least a century - stated: “Whatsoever ye do to the least of these, ye do to me.”

Then Rachel told us that the Pope, after addressing the Pharisees of the U.S. Congress, was going to go to that statue and bless it. And then he would take his dinner with the homeless.

Tears started to roll down my cheeks, and I broke down sobbing.

Later on, after recovering myself and having dinner and a little happy herb, I sat down to add a comment to a blog on DailyKos. I wanted to write a summary of Bernie’s mission, and I sought to give it a Haiku-like concision:

"The key point is that Bernie is informing the American people that a remarkable array of benefits that they really would love to have - benefits that are taken for granted in most truly civilized countries and that are inherently feasible - can be theirs if they unite in a great people's movement that wrests control of our government from plutocrats and achieves comprehensive campaign finance reform. We can also implement measures to preserve and grow good-paying employment in our country, and pull the planet back from the brink of global-warming devastation. To achieve such benefits, we will need to increase revenues in a progressive way - focusing primarily on Wall Street, corporations, and the wealthy; stem and reverse the grotesque growth in military expenditures that has occurred since our Soviet rivals were replaced by religious psychotics in caves; and minimize the use of war as a foreign policy option. This will require the dis-election of a sufficient number of the many Congress members who are beholden to interests that would prevent this. Bernie is the visionary who can lead us to actualize this vision.

And Bernie is also seeking to unite us in caring and mutual respect. Throughout his entire political career, without regard to the political consequences, Bernie has stood up for good-hearted people whom society has chosen to stigmatize and marginalize. He knows that this people’s revolution will be the most vibrant and successful when we truly are all in this together. And as people are caught up in this revolution, many will be transitioned from hating to loving."

That’s when I broke down crying again.

And then I remembered that recently I had read an essay by a noted American rabbi, opining that Pope Francis and Bernie Sanders were two prophetic voices for our time:
http://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/opinion/columnists/iowa-view/cauc...

Something’s going on here, and I think it’s good.