Day Three On the Pilgrims Way

When I was about five years old, someone gave me a blue Precious Moments Bible. I remember flipping through all the pictures of the figurines and reading the Precious Moments “moments” spread throughout it. Eventually, I moved on to much more scholarly bibles, but that blue Precious Moments Bible still sits on my bedside table. It is filled with mementos and devotionals I have saved over the years. There was a time that Granny and I read the same devotional book each week, and we would talk about it on Sunday nights. This was the bible I used, and it will always hold a special place in my heart. 

All that to say, when I found out there was an actual Precious Moments Chapel, I knew I had to go visit. Last night, we stayed at the “official” Precious Moments hotel in Carthage, Missouri. It was quite the eventful evening. In the middle of the night, the fire alarm went off. I jumped up and screamed “fire alarm.” Mom jumped out of the bed but ran to the bathroom. AB put pillows on top of her head. I just stood there worried that all the Clorox Mom sprayed on the light switches had caught the place on fire – they had been sizzling earlier. 

I looked outside and saw people just standing in the hall. I wasn’t sure what to do. Behind me I hear Mom ask, “should I wear this?” I turned around to see her holding a sweater as though she was deciding what to wear to a nice dinner. It was surreal, but, luckily, a false alarm.

The Precious Moments experience itself was not quite what I had anticipated. I mean, part of it certainly had an “It’s A Small World” feel to it, but it was very grief filled. I am sure that sounds surprising, but the place is shrouded in grief. 

The Chapel itself was built and painted by Sam Butcher, the artists behind the Precious Moments art. He was inspired by the Sistine Chapel in Italy, and wanted to create a similar chapel – well, with Precious Moments figurines rather than Michelangelo’s interpretation of creation. It was a bit cheesy and maybe a little creepy – I can’t deny that – but, it was also very heavy.

For instance, the main painting in the chapel is a gigantic depiction of Heaven. The tour guide proceeded to tell us who all the people in the painting were and how they came to die. It was unsettling to look at this cute little painting of children and then be confronted with such death and grief. 

The other thing I noticed was that Butcher depicts everyone as a child. He sees straight through to the child within all of us. The last time my Bible study met we talked a lot about how faith often begins very literally and concretely, and as we evolve, we can better live with the questions more than the needing definite answers. We can live with the mystery, as some would say. I do think that at the heart of all of us is the hope and heart of a child. Often, it is our own sorrow and grief which takes us back to the child within us all. I just had never thought how much the Precious Moments really captures this idea. More to come on this in the virtual pilgrimage episode.

I wish I could convey how remote the attractions are we have been visiting. You really can't just stumble upon them. And yet, the parking lots are huge. Although, both the Precious Moments Chapel and Holy Land just opened back up. So, there were very few people present during our visits. But, still. Plenty of room for hundreds of people. Actually, the Holy Land play seats 4,000 people.

At each site, I felt compelled to ask how in the world they decided to build in these remote places. Interestingly enough, both sites were purchased because of a call from God. A feeling that this was the place God wanted them to build. Like, "if you build it they will come" moments.

It makes me wonder how many people out there have had similar "calls" that they just simply ignored. Because, let's be honest, that does sound crazy. Think about having this call, "go build a chapel in the woods that is based on the Sistine Chapel, but paint little children with gigantic heads in all the murals." Crazy? Yes. Has it helped many many people heal from their grief? Yes. Still crazy? Yes.

But, hey, its' crazy just to be called into the ministry. I remember the day I left my job to go to seminary. I got in the car, and there I sat looking at a brick wall. I thought to myself, "what have I done? You should run back in there and get that job back." Instead, I called a dear friend and mentor, and I said "I feel like I have jumped off a cliff." And he said, "you have, but you are on a strong lifeline." Oddly enough, that felt comforting and frightening all at the same time. I guess that is probably how all "calls" feel.

At the end of the day, lest we remember we are all on a strong lifeline. And, we are all called to do "something". You don't know what that something is? Sometimes I don't know specifics from day to day. But, I know this - we are in the midst of two pandemics in our world, and there is plenty of work to go around. Sounds like a tough task? It is. I think the least we can do is recognize the child inside each of us -  to see each person around us as a precious moment in this world. Maybe doing that work will teach us to love our neighbor as ourselves. And, to be honest, I suspect that is the ultimate answer to these pandemics.....but what do I know?