| October 10, 2005 -
When I arrived back in Austin, I was talking to Kevin over at Blue
Genie about the trip. Hailing from Kansas City himself, he's
well versed with
Carthage, Missouri's Precious Moments Chapel.
"Your hipster sense of irony wears off awful fast there, doesn't
it?" I could only stare blankly back and reply with a deadened
voice, 'yeah'. Over the years, I've heard about the Chapel, passed
by it a number of times, and never stopped in. Given another
opportunity to stop by, I had to take it, and Laura seemed game for
the experience as well.
The place had a serene and devotional sense to it. The
religious fervor apparent disarmed the unmitigated joy a roadside
tourist trap usually brings. After snaking our way through a
fake indoor city stripped from Main Street Disneyland, Laura and I
headed towards the Chapel itself. The walkway was a long,
eerie walk, with Precious Moments angels blowing horns surrounded by
flowers. Each angel had a name attached to it, representing
some lost child that somehow found a memorial here.
The outside of the Chapel was filled with stained glass windows,
which depicted Psalm 23 acted out by our little Precious
Moments angels, described the the Chapel as the 'most intricate
stained glass works in the world'. Hyperbole is an American
standard, but damned if the pilgrims who made the trek here didn't
agree.
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inside of the Chapel got freakier - a series of paintings lined both
sides of the wall, depicting various Bible stories which culminated
in the large mural behind the altar. It illustrated all the
lost children of this world, in Heaven, holding mended hearts,
playing with dogs, their Precious teardrop eyes tearing up.
Jesus himself made an appearance, depicting teaching/healing the
children gathered around him. As I tried to hold my jaw onto
my face, I followed the flow of breathless pilgrims to the first
remembrance room. It was dedicated to the Precious Moment's
founder's son, who dies at age seven. A bit personal, I
respectfully shuffled past the little league pictures and shots of
him with the family dog, thinking the worst was over. Instead,
I was led into a second remembrance room.
The room had two bookshelves on either side of the entrance,
filled with big, bound white books, some of which were laid out for
guests to sign. The signatures were followed by descriptions
of their lost loved ones, their hearts and souls spilled out onto
the pages of these books in neat, formal penmanship. The walls
were lined with pictures of dead Precious Moments fans, and on the
bookshelf lay a three ring binder containing thirty pages of price
lists for Precious Moments gravestones, err, memorials.
I had nearly enough at this point of holding my breath through
all this and escaped to the hills of Southern Missouri that lay
outside the door. There was an overlook to soak up the natural
beauty around us. but it was looking towards the lake, where Wedding
Isle was - a Precious Moments wedding chapel. On the grounds
there is also a bridal boutique and a Precious Moments hotel for
guests. My mind shivered at the image of the people who choose
to get married here, and Laura and I walked to the overlook on the
other side of the concrete patio.
There, in the woods, was a Precious Moments angel. He was
sitting outside a cave, and the sign read, 'Resurrection Cave'.
I had enough but the gallery was still waiting. As we entered
the gallery, a collection of figurines, production photos from the
Philippines and Thailand, and Artist of the Year Awards, a humble
Missouri man stopped by the information booth. He began by
emphatically saying in his southern Missouri drawl, "I am not a
religious man", he continued, "but that chapel has a feeling,
its says so on the doors, a spirit..." He trailed off, and
denied any religious beliefs again before continuing on, "And I felt
that spirit, in that work". There must have been a cock
crowing as he denied any religious beliefs again, "The work contains
a spirit, the amount of hours put into that chapel, it was amazing.
Breathtaking. It truly is a gift."
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