Pope Francis for Congress

Dear Pope Francis,

Hi. You probably don't remember me but I am the one who wrote to you about the trials and tribulations of being a Francis. I talked about the tricky spellings, mispronunciations and nicknames. Did you get a nickname? I'm dying to know. I think Frank would be fitting and kind of funny, so casual for such a reverent person.

Anyway, thank you for responding back and including an autographed picture. Your photo is on my refrigerator along with pictures of my two boys. I also wanted to you know, I think you are doing a stand-up job.

Holy Smokes! (No pun intended.) You sure have accomplished a lot in such a short time. Your simple but powerful words of loving everyone no matter what is really turning heads. You've even got atheists posting your words on Facebook, publicly stating, "I could get into this." Of course the newscasters are on it too. It's ironic how "loving everyone without judgment" is considered news. How many years old is this message? Thanks for the refresh. The world desperately needs to hear it.

I would like to clone you Pope Francis, pop a few of you into the U.S. Congress.  You probably heard about our government shutdown. A number of elected officials were so caught up in being right and judgmental, they couldn't agree on a budget. A temporary fix put the decision off until February. Joking aside, our leaders are in need of some serious help.

Maybe by miracle -- you know all about miracles -- more Congressmen will start thinking about the people they represent, just like you. And maybe they will take some budget tips from you too. You're pretty handy with the money, living modestly even as pope. Isn't that what a leader does, look after the people, not just prove a point or focus on themselves?

I tell you, the whole world is looking at our government with dropped jaws. Children cannot act this way, why should adults? Athletes can't play this way either or it's "game over." Didn't these people learn anything in the sandbox or sports field?  The U.S. used to be the role model. I think we'd all be better off emulating you, Pope Francis.

With a Perspective, I'm Francie Low.

Francie Low is a mother of two teenagers and writes a humor blog.