August 21, 2020

There’s an old saying from the 8th century by Saint Bede the Venerable:

“As long as the Colosseum stands, Rome shall stand; when the Colosseum falls, Rome will fall; when Rome falls, the whole world will fall.”

I’ve been thinking about it every time I walk past this old gal (the Colosseum) recently. What does the whole world falling look like? In these strange and unprecedented times are we really so self-involved that we think that we’re going to be the final generation? That after all that the world has been through, all that Rome has been through, it isn’t more likely that this is just another crazy world event in a long line of crazy world events? No matter how much time I spend here (10 years and counting) I am humbled when I stand in front of the Colosseum.

Over the years, this magnificent structure has become one of my ‘offices’ and I’m still overwhelmed and awestruck by its beauty. I occasionally get goosebumps when I see it for the first time around a corner (really!) and I find that if I’m traveling, when I get back to Rome it’s one of the first things I go to see. It’s like I’m checking up on it. Yep, still there. The whole world has not fallen yet. And we are still on Earth spinning around in empty space in the universe. Kinda humbling isn’t it?