Ash Wednesday

The amount of ignorance in some people's heads surprises me.

I've been seeing online posts (Twitter, etc.) from people who are laughing at Joe Biden for falling down. Some even say "Get out of the White House!"  They think he fell down because they saw a "bruise" on his forehead in news photos from Ukraine. 

I saw that "bruise" too, but I immediately knew what it was. This past Wednesday was "Ash Wednesday", a holy day in the Catholic church, and Joe Biden is a devout Catholic. As such, when he was in Ukraine he had a priest apply ash, in the shape of a cross, to his forehead. I don't think the ash has to be worn all day, but Biden appeared to have kept the ash on his forehead for hours, and as the ash faded with time and perspiration, it became a smudge and then a fainter smudge. In news photographs it might appear as a bruise to some people.

I'm not Catholic, but I know a little bit about their traditions. I know about Ash Wednesday, and I know that Biden is Catholic. It's not rocket science to add those two things and conclude that Biden was merely displaying his faith, as do many devout Catholics on Ash Wednesday.

I hope the "children" who made fun of Biden for the "bruise" on his forehead will one day grow up and learn something about the world. I call them children, regardless of their real age, because their actions—making fun of Biden—were the actions of a child. Mocking an elderly person because you think he fell and hurt himself is even less forgivable than mocking someone's faith. Not all of us will be Catholic, but all of us will fall down at least once in a lifetime. To those who mocked him, I ask this: even if Biden had fallen, why would you mock someone for doing something that you've done and will do again? 

Oh, well, maybe you never stumble. Maybe you're perfect. Frankly, I wouldn't know what that feels like.