There's No Place Like Home

It is time for a wee bit of art - poetic art, to be exact. I was watching a new version of the musical "Camelot" a few nights ago on PBS with Gabriel Byrne as Arthur. It was great. Even my five year-old son really enjoyed it. Anyway, it got me thinking about the idea of "Camelot," about places that are special - even holy. To Christians (and Muslims and Jews, for that matter), Jerusalem is just such a place. But, are there other places in the world that are holy? Maybe as "second-tier" places? I wrote a poem back in 1998 about my home town of Genoa, Ohio. What a great place. It is a small farming community in northwest Ohio, about 2000 people total population. We left when I was eight years old (1969), but I am still a Buckeye in my soul. Here is the poem "Genoa."

Walking Washington Street
again, with a man's shoes
and a child's heart
remembering every crack
of the ancient sidewalk,
knowing the secret
that I am not just walking
in Genoa.
I am walking
in Camelot.
Do the boys I observe
recklessly riding their bicycles
know that they are
on holy ground?
Or is it just the ground
beneath my feet
that is holy?

God bless you all. Thanks for tolerating my attempt at art. I will go back to preaching now.