May 4, 2003 - Carlinville, IL (Precious Moments, Carthage, MO, 4/14/03)

Thunder, rain, blowing about 25 mph and 54 degrees.  And tomorrow we're supposed to be mowing the grass.  Well, yesterday it was in the high 70s, sunshine, and I was washing the trailer in shorts and a T-shirt.  I suppose we could be mowing grass tomorrow.  In the meantime, let's go back to Branson, MO, and a side trip we took.

We're at the Precious Moments exhibit.  Now, as I mentioned earlier, driving 225 miles round trip to see a display of cute little figurines wasn't on my hot list of things to do.  But it was on Barb's.  So I went along just because it meant a lot to her.  The camera was on my hip, and it stayed there for a while, and then I decided to share what I was going through with you all.  On the left is a little guy sitting by a pond, and then the walkway to the chapel.  As you can see by the time stamp, we'd gotten an early start.  This is located in a small town called Carthage, MO. If we'd have driven another 27.4 miles we'd have been in Kansas.  

Cute little fountain in the walkway to the chapel, and I was still being the good husband.  And then we went into the chapel, and all pretense on my part disappeared.  Completely.  I was enthralled by the paintings and stained-glass work, and enjoying myself thoroughly.

The little guy in the right painting holding the "Welcome" sign was obviously new to the job.  The gatekeeper is letting a little girl in, and the sign on the door to heaven says "No more tears."  Well, maybe not for them.  The stories behind each of the characters (mostly children) in the paintings made my eyes leak more than once.  There is no way to get all the detail of this painting which covers the whole end of the chapel. It's called Hallelujah Square and is the message of hope and salvation for all Christians.  The artist is Sam Butcher.

There are paintings on one wall depicting some stories from the old testament, and on the other wall are some of the new testament stories.  The stained-glass in the door represents an Asian angel and there were three more representing other ethnic groups.  On this wall is the story of Joseph with his multi-colored coat, Moses being found in the river, and Joshua's prayer.

Of course, I had to include the story of the Sower, and a bit of the story of the prodigal son.  The ceiling (right) was a real undertaking for Sam. From the souvenir booklet:  "Inspired by Michaelangelo's ceiling in the Sistine Chapel, Sam undertook his own artistic challenge when the Chapel building was ready for his original paintings.  His first project would be the ceiling in the sanctuary.  Working atop a scaffolding over 30-feet high, Sam found the painting lonely and very tiring.  He worked for over 500 hours, often lying on his back, and more than once, he considered quitting.  He recalls:  "One night I laid down my brushes and walked away.  I wanted to give up.  Instead, I prayed and asked the Lord to give me strength to carry on.  In the quietness of that night, God answered my prayer and I went back to work."  The angelic scene thrills visitors, who are awed by the 2600-square foot ceiling mural.  For Sam, it was his most difficult Chapel project; for visitors, it is the most beloved of all his Chapel artwork."

When Sam was done with the ceiling, he happened to look up and spotted this little unfinished angel (right of center).  The three on the left are finished, but that little bump in the clouds is the rather blue face of an unfinished angel.  He decided to leave it that way, knowing that had the Lord not intervened, the Chapel would have remained unfinished.  The plaque proclaims, "The 15 stained glass windows are among the most exquisite treasures in the chapel.  The windows, some containing over 1200 individually cut pieces of glass, were painstakingly hand leaded in Redding, California.  Their intricate details make them among the most unique in the United States. The windows in this wing represent the 23rd Psalm."

The intricate work is easily seen, even in these pictures.  The grounds surrounding the Chapel are really full of fountains too.

The little house on the island was built for Sam Butcher's grandchildren.  The angel sitting by the cavern is depicting the empty tomb of Jesus.  There's a sign there that says, "He is not here for he has risen as he said."  Does it look like I'm having fun yet?  Sure should!!

Sam lives in the Phillippines now, and did the carving on these doors over there and had them sent here.  Amazing talent with these little tear-drop eyed round headed children.

The poem reads:  "The Chapel.  On a hill overlooking a quiet blue stream, is a chapel of beauty and praise, that graces a landscape of flowering fields, neath a pillar of heavenly rays;  it is to the weary a haven of rest, where the spirit of God gently falls, on those who find peace from the spiritual scenes, that cover the beautiful walls;  on wings of soft music a story is told, of the one who has come from above, to a world without hope with a message of peace, as He spoke of His father's great love; in the chapel His message is still carried on, in a sweet way as never before, and all those who come feel the presence of Jesus, the moment they walk through the door.  Samuel J. Butcher 1993"

I can attest to the truth of that simple poem as that's exactly what happened to me.  Sam started to paint the Chapel in 1984, and did his last work here in 1998.  He adds to the work as it seems right to him.  He's not without a sense of humor, and many of the images have a bit of whimsy about them.  I liked the patches on the gowns (upper right).

Inside the gift shop/cafeteria area is this wonderful scene.  All animated, the young man (with the long blond hair) is serenading his love with his violin, the old woman is shaking her rolling pin at him through the window, and up in the castle, is the object of his affection, smiling down at him.  The woman with the rolling pin is smiling, of course.

"Cubby Bear's RV Park" the sign proclaims.  Weddings are a big deal here, too.  Part of the grounds are devoted strictly to them.  The big white house with the blue roof was moved here from another location and renovated for receptions.  The pink roofed chapel is where the weddings take place. They sit on a beautiful lake with swans.

We were driving around the grounds, and found the entrance to the Fountain of Angels.  A show we were to see later in the day.  Then back to the Chapel Center, which houses among other things, a huge gift shop.

This pond was right outside the building that had the Fountain of Angels show.  For $.25 we could have fed the fish.  They didn't look all that hungry to us.

13 pumps ranging from 10 to 75 horsepower, 265 nozzles, 560 valves, 1650 feet of tubing, 5 miles of piping, 36 miles of electrical cables, 72 lights on 4 separate 60 ft. light towers each containing a 1000 watt halogen bulb.  There are also a total of 14 cyberlights each with a 1200 watt bulb.  Resembling angel wings, the cathedral arches are composed of six individual nozzles.

The Fountain of Angels is the largest project in the world in terms of total horsepower and amount of water used during the show.  It takes an average of 4 hours of computer programming to produce one minute of the Fountain show.

At full speed this large fan shaped formation behind the fountain uses 600 gallons of water per minute.  Water is blown 60 ft. high into a very fine mist to form a screen onto which any image can be projected.  Sam designed all of the sculptures of the Fountain which he and his understudy sculpted.  They were then cast in bronze to a thickness of 1/4 inch.  The largest piece is this sculpture of an angel and a fish located on the center lower tier weighs 1,000 pounds.

There are two different shows here, one being the Fountain show and the other just an entertainment musical show.  Different acts in the entertainment show, and while waiting Barb posed by one of the angels not for sale.  Patches on the bottom of the shoes!

While originally reluctant to stand around looking at goo-gas, by now I was anticipating what creative genius I'd be able to find in the next section.  Too many for me to decide which to take pictures of, so Barb has the camera at this point.  The guys on the left are lawn art, and those beauties on the right are all hand made, as you can imagine.

That large one on the right  is a fireman with a tear coming from his eye holding a baby, and the caption says, "Remember the children, Okalahoma City, 1995."  The other figurines are all porcelain.

The small man had a very large voice, and was pretty good on stage taking some teasing from the clown.  He sang a variety of songs, and interacted with the crowd very well.  The clown came down because the man wouldn't dance with him/her, and this little girl jumped up and gave the clown a hug.

The little girl wanted to dance with the clown, and they were really cute together.  On the way home we drove through Springfield, home of the Bass Pro Shops.  WOW!  What a place!  I intentionally left the camera in the car, and it's a good thing too.  Just thinking about the stuff in there makes me drool.  Fitting end to a wonderful day.