FINDING LOST CIVILIZATIONS This

that has been repeated since the dawn of time. Life and worshiphad stood here once and was now gone. What hadhappened to them? Had we learned anything from them?Will others stand here a thousand years from now withoutany realization that we stood here before them? Will theyalso repeat our failures? And will they wonder what happenedto us?As I stood there I recalled that years before I had visiteda very old and beautiful church in Florence, Italy. Whilein the church I followed a series of steps that led me to itsdepths. To my surprise I found that there were ongoing excavationsunder the church, which revealed that the churchhad been built upon the ruins of a Roman temple and that theRoman temple had been built upon the ruins of another pagantemple that preceded the Romans. History repeats itself:We share a common thread as we build upon each other.But, what has the past shown to the common man who goesabout his everyday life concerned only with the here andnow? It seems, very little. Although we have advanced technologically,mankind has remained embroiled in the samebasic conflicts that existed since the dawn of ages.Pottery fragments on the site of Pedro’s Cross.As my father and I sat under the shade I said a prayer tothe Gods of past, the Gods of present, and the Gods of ourfuture. I was thankful I was able to look at the ground andhear it speak to me, that I was able to look at the sky andsee a ray of hope, and that I could look out to the horizonand see a vision of joy and happiness in my heart. The cyclecontinues.58