Monday we decided to take a last minute trip to Pompeii. You may remember that Pompeii was the city buried when Vesuvius erupted about 70 AD. Since excavated, it gives a snapshot of life in that time.
Stepping back 2000 years makes you think about some things. In my case it made me realize how much people stay the same. In many ways you or I would recognize this city. The homes were made for comfort. There were public places to rest and exercise. There were fast food restaurants along the road. These were urban people working together to make a civilized life.
In other ways, they seem different from us. They were very religious people. In the center of their towns, in little buildings along the road, indeed almost everywhere, there are temples. Granted, historians tell us their religion began to lose its influence and power in late antiquity, but there was a spiritual sense of things. Perhaps that is why it was so easy for Christianity to gain a predominate place in organizing the society after the fall of the empire.
In the end, I suppose the other lesson of Pompeii is that life is transient. There are no guarantees that disaster won't strike, and so we must live each day fully.
Signing off from 70 AD
Thomas
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