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| "Touchdown Jesus," Solid Rock Church on I-75, Monroe OH. Destroyed by lightning and fire, June 2010. |
How BIG is your JESUS?
I never saw Monroe’s famous
Solid Rock Church’s 62 foot
Tall quarter-million dollar
Styrofoam and fiberglass
“Touchdown Jesus”* even
Though my job took us past
It on I-75 almost weekly as
We ranged Ohio and the
Surrounding states building
Card racks for Brooklyn’s
American Greetings. On
June 14, 2010, lightning,
An act of God, struck it
During a storm and the
Resulting fire did the rest.
I did instead see Jesus the
Replacement**, this time
Equipped with a lightning
Rod but only 52 feet of
Composite polymer erected
On September 19, 2012.
Paid for with insurance
Money from the destruction
Of the first statue, this
Structure which quickly
Became known as the
“Hug Me” Jesus, depicted
As a standing figure with
Arms outstretched, looms
Over the land between the
Church and the highway
With only a bit less of the
Creepiness attributed to TDJ,
Whose body appeared to be
Ascending from the nearby
Pond very like the “Creature
From the Black Lagoon.”
What brings this all to mind
Is the news that St Aloysius
Church in Abajah village, Imo
State, Nigeria, unveiled its 28 ft.
Marble Jesus*** on New Year’s
Day. One remarked, “It’s the
Biggest statue of Jesus on
The continent. Definitely
Pilgrims will come.” Build
It and they will come. Africa,
I’m told, is fertile soil for
The Roman Catholic church
These days. A little further west
In the Cote d’Ivoire then President
Félix Houphouët-Boigny in 1989
Completed a 520 ft. tall church****
Of European marble which the
Pope refused to consecrate if
It exceeded the height of St
Peter’s basilica in Rome. The
Dome was shaved to come
Under Pete’s by a smidge
But the cross atop had the
Final word: it’s taller. To do
It he exhausted the nation’s
Treasury. Locally it’s Our Lady
Of the Treasury. Designed to seat
Seven thousand or hold 200
Thousand standing, the building
Receives fewer than a couple
Hundred daily. I guess I liken
This ecclesiastical bombast
To the cathedral competition
In the blossoming mercantile
Centers of late medieval Europe
Where local magnates struggled
Somewhere between devotion
And preening. Contributions
For indulgences played no
Small role either. Unlike God
Of the Old Testament who
Dictated the Ark by cubits
This way and that Jesus
Of the Old Testament who
Dictated the Ark by cubits
This way and that Jesus
Layed down no minimum
Floor plans, materials lists,
Nor restrictions on heights.
Many defending the excesses
Refer to Jesus at Bethany
Permitting Mary to apply the
Precious nard. I’ll paraphrase:
“The poor you will always
Have with you. I'm here briefly,” .
“The poor you will always
Have with you. I'm here briefly,” .
Well, gang, Jesus is here no more
But the poor are. The money could
Have been spent better.
Have been spent better.
c. J.S.Manista, 2016
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