Center of the World Places and End of the World Places

 Last Tuesday Before Pentecost

Lectionary Texts: 

Joel 2:28-32

Acts 2:12-21

I've mentioned before my thinking about there being (sort of) center of the world places and end of the world places. The last three travelogues have been about the single most central place in the world, Jerusalem. I thought I would pause for day on this and list what in my mind are the center of the world places I have been to and the end of the world places I have been to. 

But first just a little definition/description. Center of the world places are all in cities. End of the world places are small towns or rural places. Center of the world places tend to be, though not always, inland. End of the world places are either at a beach or on a mountain, and often on islands.  Center of the world places have a lot of people there. End of the world places; few people. Being more of a city boy than a country boy, I've been to more center of the world places than end of the world places. Another reason I've been to more center of the world places is that end of the world places tend to be a lot harder to get to. 

I first got the idea of center of the world places in 1961, when I went to Myrtle Beach the day after school ended. Everyone in our high school went to Myrtle Beach the day after school ended. I went with three friends, no parents. We rode the bus. We all four stayed in one room in the Cadillac Court. The accommodations did not quite match the name. The great things about the Cadillac Court were that it was just across the street from the beach. The other great thing was that also just across the street was the Driftwood Motel, where about two dozen girls from my high school were staying. Of course the girls had to have chaperones. It was about 12 blocks from the Pavilion, a large public open space with lots of pinball machines and a lot of space to meet other people. 

In front of the Pavilion was a directional and mileage sign. It had the mileage to London, Paris, Tahiti, Rome, Honolulu, etc. The sign's intention seemed to be that the Pavillion was the place from which all other places were measured. It was the center of the world. Indeed for my hormoned-up teenage self, it was the center of the world. Everyone was celebrating school being over.  Everyone was happy. There were as many girls as boys, maybe more. Don't worry. We didn't have sex. Sex hadn't been invented yet. 

We did have fun. That week after school at Myrtle Beach was what we all dreamed of all school year long. The Pavilion at Myrtle Beach was the center of our world. 

Over the many following years my ideas about the centers of the world expanded. I also got the idea of ends of the earth places. So here are some of the places where I 've been. The order is not necessarily a ranking.

Centers of the World

1. Jerusalem, Israel                                The old city. The Temple Mount. 

2. Paris, France                                      The Champs Elysees

3. Athens, Greece                                  The Acropolis

4. Barcelona, Spain                                The Ramblas, also Sagrada Familia Church

5. New York, USA                                 Times Square

6. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil                         Christ the Redeemer, atop Corcovado

7. London, England                                Trafalgar Square

8. Cairo, Egypt                                       Tahrir Square

9. New Orleans, USA                             The French Quarter

10. Edinburgh, Scotland                         The Royal Mile

Here are some of the end of the world places I have been. Again, the order is not necessarily a ranking.

1. Iona, Scotland                                     The Abbey

2. The Dead Sea, Israel                           Masada

3. Cape Sounion, Greece                        Temple of Poseidon

4. Ocracoke Island, NC, USA                Silver Lake

5. Gibralter, Gibralter                             The Rock of Gibralter

6. Kingston, Barbados                            The easternmost island of the Caribbean 

7. Bodega Bay, California, USA             Perched atop Big Sur at the the mouth of the Russian River

8. The Isle of Skye, Scotland                  Northern tip, looking out to the Isle of Harris

9. Tortugeuro, Costa Rica                       National park, reachable only by boat

10. Key West, Florida                             End of the USA, but feels like the center of the world

In upcoming Monday blogs, I'll talk about each one of these. Do you have your own you would like to add to the list. You've been to a lot of places I haven't.

God of all places,

We give you thanks for all the places that have touched our lives. Help us to preserve them. Amen.

Faithfully,

Christian

P.S. Our long term travel companion and faithful blog reader, Vicki Church, has been to 9 of the 10 center of the world places with Marianne and me, and 4 of the 10 end of the world places.

Faithfully,

Christian