From the late fifth century to the early sixth century is the setting for a beloved British figure of some romantic significance. It is the time period King Arthur and Knights of The Round Table are believed to have loved and reigned and ruled in Camelot.
While Arthur fought the Saxons, the pretenders to his kingdom and his throne, he was engaged with Lancelot on another front for the affection and devotion of his beloved Guinevere.
Queen Guinevere was, according to legend, beautiful and desirable beyond belief, and she won the heart of Arthur. Think of it as a May to December romance and we begin to get the flavor and depth of the matters of the heart at conflict with the urgencies of the day.
Today it most simply known as the time of Camelot, but it was destined to be seen again, and maybe even a third time is on the horizon. At least we would like to think so. Several centuries passed after the exploits of King Arthur and a new nation in the west, in the views of many, captured the Age of Camelot again. The one thousand days of the presidency of John (Jack) Kennedy.
Kennedy with his vivacious wife Jackie captured the imagination of the world.Here was a young, beautiful, idealistic couple from family dynasties that dreamed of and led a nation towards a better place in time, in history, in the heart, and in caring for all its peoples.
Perhaps less than a century after Jack and Jackie we can relive Camelot just one more time. What a dream for those of us who are old enough to remember the young couple seemingly so in love, so charismatic, so vibrant, such dreamers with such social grace raising their small children in the White House.
Sure times have changed. Some changes have been good fulfilling the dreams of Jack Kennedy and Bobby Kennedy. Many others have not been so good. Life is easier though it is harder. Life is more, much more, complicated often requiring two people in a family to be gainfully employed full time to support their children at the same standard of one working adult during the day of Kennedy’s Camelot.
Fifty two inch flat screen LCD and Plasma high definition televisions have replaced the six inch black and white TV screen. Cable has replaced the rabbit ears and outdoor antennas of that era. Hundreds of available television stations have replaced the big three.
Sirius Radio has replaced FM radio which replaced AM. Twenty four hour news channels like FOX, MSNBC, and CNN have replaced Huntly and Brinkley, and the complacency of the people have replaced the hope of the nation during Jack and Jackie’s Camelot.
Big box stores have replaced mom and pop shops. Huge corporate stores have replaced the corner market, and the Piggly Wiggly’s of the world have replaced the local grocery store where a family could get what they needed and pay for it on pay day in the name of progress. But are we really better off? Is it better where there are more homeless? Is it better when more kids go to bed cold and hungry? Are we a better nation when the veteran, the elderly, and the sick have to chose between food and medicine?
In a time when half of all marriages end in divorce and far too many children are being raised in a single parent home, can we do better? Can we recapture the Age of Camelot? America is disenchanted. Can we recapture the dream? Can we recharge the dreamers? We need another Walt Disney for our passtime and another John Kennedy for our country. As much as we love
America, can we make her better?
Senator Barack Obama and his queen, the beautiful Michelle Obama, think so. Do you believe? Have you caught the fever? The more we look at this young, beautiful, educated, caring, engaging couple with their hopes and dreams for the United States the more we are inclined to once again believe in Camelot. Has the Age of Camelot arrived for a second time in our life time? Caroline Kennedy, the daughter of America’s first era of Camelot, thinks so.
