What's to Like About Babylon?

I promised to write a few more words about my first home. What good is Babylon? What good was it? These are a few of my favorite things….

1. West Babylon Junior High School, in my mind, is the flagship of our public schools (http://www.westbabylon.k12.ny.us). It is a model of discipline and enthusiasm. Its teachers steer hundreds of children through the first perilous years of adolescence with wisdom, humor, and firmness. My sister, an art teacher here, now gives back what she was most generously given by the school. (Historical footnote: Walt Whitman taught school in West Babylon in the winter of 1836-1837.)

2. On the strength and creativity of volunteers of all ages, the James Street Players (http://www.jamesstreetplayers.org/) consistently produces some of the best community theater on Long Island. The Babylon United Methodist Church has hosted the company for 40 years.

3. Main Street, which runs through Babylon Village, is one of the most convivial places to congregate in this town. Sure, the shops and restaurants are a little more expensive here, but you know that you’re somewhere, and you feel like you are someone. That is to say, when you’re hanging around Main Street, you’re not anonymous, nor would you want to be. Here, you forget that you live in the suburbs. For more about Babylon Village:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babylon_(village),_New_York

4. Belmont Lake State Park (http://www.longislandexchange.com/parks/belmontlake-statepark.html) is a hidden gem in my own backyard, North Babylon. Here, my dad took me on a rowboat ride once. My sister the shutterbug has taken her finest pictures here. My brother and I have gone here for long walks. If I don’t spend more time here in the future, I will regret it profoundly.

5. The Terrace Diner, located off Sunrise Highway. My idea of an all-American restaurant: a menu with something for everybody, generous portions, and low prices. A place like this reveals the glory of working-class dining. This place was great before its renovation several years ago, and is simply the finest eatery of its kind today. Check it out: http://www.newsday.com/entertainment/localguide/119188,0,1886739.venue

6. West Babylon Public Library (http://wbab.suffolk.lib.ny.us/), established 1983. I got my first library card here in 1985. I grew a lot in mind thanks to this institution.

7. Our Lady of Grace Roman Catholic Church (http://www.ourladyofgrace.net), for personal reasons. It’s my first faith community, my place of refreshment, and my sanctuary. A lot of what I needed to know about being a Christian I learned here.

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A few more thoughts on Babylon and home:

Sometimes this place will surprise me. Sometimes the television is actually turned off. Sometimes there’s no traffic charging down the street. You can turn your head all the way around and not see advertising. The only sounds are your breathing and the birds tweeting nearby. We can surrender our distress, and the disquiet of the day gives way to stillness. Possibilities present themselves.

Sometimes you’re not mimicking the small talk on the radio. Sometimes you discover to your amazement that you haven’t been gossiping after all, and the conversation is still enjoyable. There are pauses, and they feel proper, victorious, earned. In those moments lie prophecy.

Even in Babylon, you can still dream during the sunsets. You can marvel at the full moon sagging low on the horizon and looking larger than you ever imagined.

It’s easy to slow down here. All you have to do is walk.

Lord, have mercy on those Babylonians who work 45 hours a week, hurtling themselves to and from a corporate high-rise or “park” by locomotive or automobile. Have mercy on those who rise before daylight, work in concrete fortresses where light never comes in, and return home in darkness.

Babylon, I pray that even in your thin, gravelly suburban soil, a more indigenous culture may yet take root, and a community of memory and deep ground may emerge. The Spirit calls your children forth, and they leave, but will there be any who stay? I cannot say, but for the young I hope that your land may one day be a place for living as well as leaving.