Look, I get it. The world’s in a mess. War’s raging like a wildfire. Christians are persecuted—murdered in the streets, their churches burned to the ground. Assassinations occur regularly, somewhere. It’s chaos. It’s brutal. And what does the guy at the top do? He blesses a block of ice.

A block of ice.

It’s symbolic? Sure. But that’s the problem. It’s symbolic in a way that makes you want to laugh, or cry, or both. Because here’s the thing: symbolism without substance is just nonsense. It’s a distraction. It’s the emperor’s new clothes. It’s empty.

The world’s burning, and what does the Pope do? Bless a piece of frozen water. What’s that supposed to mean? Hope? Peace? Coolness? It’s a joke. A sick joke. Because while he’s blessing ice, the real fires and real suffering continues. People die, and we’re supposed to marvel at a gesture?

And why? Because maybe it’s easier. Easier to bless a block of ice and enjoy the whirlwind of approbation from the silly and evil media than to face the real problems. Easier to wave a hand and say, “See, I care about the current thing,” while the world burns. It’s symbolic, sure. But it’s also a cop-out. Because symbols don’t change anything. They don’t stop the bullets. They don’t end the persecution. They don’t feed the starving.

There’s an underground Church in China being hunted even now? Hey, don’t worry, the Pope blessed a block of ice. Hundreds of Churches throughout the US have been vandalized or set ablaze but don’t worry, the pope has a great photo-op. The United States of America is dragging itself towards civil war? Europe burns. But the pope wants to remind us that we’re stewards of the planet and we should care for it. OK? But there’s something pressing right now. Could we circle back to that?

This isn’t about faith, really. It’s about action. About guts. About standing up in the middle of the chaos and saying, “Enough.” Instead, he’s blessing ice, like some kind of spiritual joke. It’s the church’s version of a photo-op, a distraction.

So yeah, it’s silly. It’s absurd. The world’s on fire, and the best they can do is bless a block of ice? Maybe it’s time to wake up. Maybe it’s time to stop blessing ice and start preaching the gospel again in a world committed to destroying it.