Of a Flag and Belief

Not too long ago, I blogged about a Jesus stick that had washed up along the California shoreline. The woman who found it interpreted it as an auspicious omen for her husband’s safe return from Iraq. This was the first instance in my reporting these appearances, much to my surprise, that the war had been mentioned.



Now, while today’s post is not about the war in Iraq, it is very much about war and patriotism, as least if you listen to the story painter John Gromosiak and police officer Gene Czaplinski share. The above painting, painted by Gromosiak, depicts a photograph of the Japanese attack on Wheeler Field at Pearl Harbor. Gromosiak sold it recently to Czaplinski via eBay. Here is where the interesting part of the story begins.



Upon receipt of the print, according to WISH-TV in Indianapolis, Indiana, Czaplinski took some photographs with his digital camera and loaded them onto his computer at work. Upon doing so, he noticed the red and white stripes of the American flag in the upper left-hand corner of the painting. The stripes are just barely visible, and both men insist that their appearance is a result of happenstance, not Photoshop doctoring; in the words of the reporter describing Czaplinski, “He is not a computer whiz, in fact he is a police officer.”

As with all of these stories, your mileage may vary, but ultimately it comes down to the power of association that inspires people to spot these visual manifestations. I’d say it is a safe bet to assume that both Gromosiak and Czaplinski consider themselves patriots, but they are quick to point out that they have no real explanation for the flag’s appearance, other than it just showed up, or “Only God knows.”

It is from the same human source of faith or belief that these visions are borne. While one person’s religious faith may result in seeing the Virgin Mary or Jesus in a tree, another person’s national faith, their patriotism, may result in spotting the American flag unexpectedly.

I wonder what convictions cause people to spot Elvis on a rock or Lenin on a shower curtain. I get into it a bit in Madonna of the Toast. Perhaps in the marketplace of icons, all belief exists on the same level as the icons have been converted into commodities, all of which must answer to the economy.

Thoughts? Questions? Comments? I’m always game to hear them!

Soon it Will be a Jesus Forest

Reported by the Ventura County Star on August 2, this is another Jesus tree. Irma Lopez was watering her front yard when she noticed that the coloring on this wood resembled Jesus, from the torso up. Upon wetting the wood, the shape really popped for Lopez, who soon showed her daughter and neighbor.

All parties involved consider the discovery a blessing. Lopez has lived on this property for 40 years. Her mother, who died a couple of years ago, often tended the garden and Lopez associates the shape with the memory of her mother. Lopez’s daughter gave birth recently to a healthy boy and for her the tree is very auspicious.

If you live in the area, the article gives the address, so I assume anyone that wants to take a look is invited.

It’s funny, for all the Jesus and Virgin Mary trees that I’ve blogged about here, I didn’t include a single one in Madonna of the Toast. I guess with all the potato chips, cows, carrots and shower curtains, a tree nubbed with an iconic face comes off as pedestrian. Oh the world we live in . . .

A Sign From Above, On the Floor

Credit for the title of this post goes to WSET 13 in Virginia, which reported this Jesus face on July 30. Found in Forest, Virginia, on a concrete garage floor, high school teacher Deb Serio is now auctioning the face on eBay.

In her words:

This image of Jesus appeared on our garage floor here in Forest, VA. I took a picture of it and showed it to several people, including all of my high school students, and they agree – it is an image of Him. I have lived with this image for about a year. I have decided to sell this portion of the concrete floor. The price of the auction MUST cover the excavation of the floor or the auction is considered CANCELED. It can be cut out, but I am not sure how to do it so I have to call in a professional. This image became known to us after we moved a 5 gallon can of driveway sealant. It does not change, cry, or manifest itself in any other way. It is an uncanny icon of Christ.

What I like most about this description is the disclaimer that the image does not “change, cry, or manifest in any other way.” Serio is certainly being straightforward about what the winner of the auction receives, aside from a bill from some contractor for excavating a concrete slab with a stain that looks like Jesus.

I find it amazing that someone would have to be explicit about one of these religious manifestations being nothing more than the semblance of a face. But, like Diana Duyser, whose $28,000 eBay windfall inspired Serio to sell the face (that auction also changed how eBay behaves), these events and their disclaimers prove how entrenched these phenomena are in our cultural fabric. Converted into bizarre commodities, replete with the legalese of liability, these objects are commonplace. Just look at how frequently I blog about them. Or, get yourself a copy of Madonna of the Toast. It’s cheaper than buying this Jesus face, which as of this afternoon, has attracted a high bid of $157.50.

It will be interesting to find out what item fetches more, this face or the Elvis rock, which will be up for grabs on August 10.

Another Rock

I’ve pulled rocks and stones out of various bodies of water. It is a very summer activity, a good way to avoid heat and swarming skeeters. Last week we learned about the Elvis rock collected in Colorado, and now this week, from Lexington County in South Carolina, news of a Virgin Mary rock. According to WLTX in Columbia, South Carolina, Linda Owens found this rock during her vacation. According to the report, Owens spotted a face and it was other gawkers that saw Mary. Owens claims that “the USC archeology department says it's not painted on, it's just nature.” A transcendentalist would be proud!

Rock 'N Elvis

That woman in mid-leap is LaDell Alexander, at her summer home in Estes Park, Colorado. She’s jumping for joy because the stone in the foreground of the photograph bears the likeness of Elvis Presley’s face. The famous face revealed itself to Alexander as she rinsed off this 23-pound piece of granite after her and her husband Lynn had hauled it out of a river and to their house. As reported by the Rocky Mountain News, “Scrubbing away at the grime covering one of the rocks, she found something that left her all shook up.”



The stone’s shading certainly delineates a dark patch that resembles Elvis’s legendary head of hair, and while seven out of ten people see The King, others have spotted George Washington, or “a French aristocrat with sideburns, like Louis XV.”

The Alexanders are banking on some deep-pocketed eBay bidder to see Elvis, however, as the stone will be put up for auction on August 10, six days prior to the 30th anniversary of Elvis’s death.

The Alexanders hope their igneous rock can fetch a sum somewhere in the ballpark of Diana Duyser's Virgin Mary Grilled Cheese. While there certainly are some zealous Elvis fans out there, I wonder how many of them would fork over $28,000? The good news is, we’ll know soon enough, and no matter how much the rock sells for, the money will go to one of Presley’s charities.

These Stories Have History

Reported on July 1, by The Brownsville Herald, this story about a Virgin Mary tree in Brownsville, Texas, dates back many decades. Charlie Davidson, 89-years-old, owns the house where the town’s most famous tree stands. I guess the house has been in the family for a while, because Davidson remembers his brothers planting the seedling “years ago, under the watchful eye of their mother.”



Neighbors discovered the Virgin Mary likeness in the tree over ten years ago, and the discovery attracted huge crowds (though today only a few people a week stop to pray in front of the tree). Back in May, however, Davidson returned home to discover the fire department, and the smoldering tree. According to the article, someone had used a San Alejo candle, which was inside of the tree, to light a firework, and then ignite material stuffed in one of the tree's holes. A small fire started. To everyone’s delight, the tree suffered little damage, but it has left Davidson to face a difficult decision.

He had recently put his house up for sale, but because of the fire he has put his plans on hold. The gawkers used to bother him, but over the years, Davidson has come to appreciate the devotion of the people who take the time to visit the tree. He’s concerned that the home’s new owners may not bestow the same degree of reverence upon the tree that he and the community have over the years. While it is not clear from the article why Davidson has thought about moving, he does attribute his longevity to his “religious convictions.” Sounds to me like he and the house still have some years together.

Since embarking on this project, the stories in Madonna of the Toast have impressed me because of their lasting power, but this story outlasts them all: from a seedling to a “huge tree” to a religious phenomenon.

Church is a Form of Theater, Right?

The Church of the Divine Spirit in Texas, has been preparing to close its doors because the owner, George, is moving to Mexico. According to Archbishop Tom Andrews, however, the face of Jesus appeared suddenly on the altar. As reported by KGBT 4, after a service, a parishioner insisted on showing something to Andrews, this face (indecipherable as it may be). Andrews knows that the face has not been present for long, so he takes it as a sign not to close the church.



In other Jesus-face news, I read this blurb about Luke Yankee’s play “The Jesus Hickey.” Yup, pareidolia has gone to the theater. Or is it theatre? This play has won the first ever Joel and Phyllis Ehrlich Award for portraying “the comic religious frenzy that transpires when a young woman is seen with a hickey on her neck evoking the face of Jesus.”

Maybe Yankee can stage a performance of his play at the Church of the Divine Spirit and keep the doors open and the pews full . . .