Conversion

We visited the town of Pollenzo, Italy a couple of weeks ago. There are remnants of a Roman town underlying everything there. We did not realize how these ruins still shaped the city until we learned that the "circle" of homes at the center of town actually rested upon the old foundations of a 10,000 seat colliseum. Mysteriously, the enclosed arena of one era's violent and brutal entertainments, gladiator fights and so on, had now become the flower beds and fruit trees of another epoch. The "conversion" of the arena into peaceful gardens may be a sign of true hope.