TOWERS

Florence

Venice

 Feldkirsh, Austria

 

London

Rock of Cashel, Ireland

 

      For eons people have been fascinated by towers and high places.

     Around the world, towers point to the stars or the creator of the universe.
     Towers have been used for defense and for refuge.
     The Tower of Babel was one such place as were the temples of the mystics on mountain tops.  People built them as places to be close to the divine or away from the marauding heathens.
      While attending a conference in Boston I was so engrossed that I had not gone out to see much of the city. My wife demanded that I go with her to the top of the Hancock Tower and see the view.
     Your ears pop in the high speed elevator going up the Hancock Tower. Even more, you are overwhelmed by the view from this marvelous perch.
     In Chicago we went up the Sears Tower on a clear day and could see for miles.  It was much the same in Atlanta in the Peachtree Tower.  Many cities have their high holy places.  Seattle has its Space Needle, San Francisco has Coit Tower. 
     It is not surprising that terrorists chose the twin towers of the World Trade Center as targets for hijacked commercial airplanes.  Visiting the site is difficult today as you see a grey concrete box lining a city block hole in the ground.
     We dare not retreat to our ivory towers which insulate us from nothing.