June Happenings - 2007

Little Groom, Texas: who-da-thunk-it?

This past week I had a wonderful - although short - visit with my parents in Amarillo.  Other than a wonderful family time of visiting and catching up, I especially enjoyed a second trip out to the famous "world's largest cross in the western hemisphere" in Groom, Texas.

For those of you who travel - it's along the old Route 66 about an hour outside Amarillo.  It's definitely worth the stop.  This time - we planned it close to sunset so we could see what that God-made affect - as well as the manmade night lighting - had on the cross. I took a few pictures and wanted to show them to you.

Although being present in person is where the real experience happens  - maybe these pictures will share a bit of the emotion.  It's very moving.

The cross is 19 stories tall and the construction was funded by just one gentleman on forty acres of land. That's my dad at the bottom left of the cross illustrating the scale.

Not for the feint of heart - standing at the bottom looking up for this last picture nearly caused me to fall backwards.  I had never experienced that sensation before.  It's just too massive to capture.

Along the bottom of the cross there are life size statues of Jesus during the last moments of his life - beginning with his meeting with Pilate.  It continued on with various scenes leading up to his crucifixion - then the cross - and an extremely moving depiction of the empty tomb.  I will only share a few pictures - to whet your appetite to view it on your own.

(I do apologize for the absence of trees in these photos. I couldn't see one in any direction I looked.  It seems to be a strange phenomenon common to this part of Texas.  As they say - 'a nice place to visit, but . . . "

The stone by the Open Tomb . . .

The angel inside . . .

These are pictures of the cross showing the changes as the sun set.  Of course, magnify these 100x as to how amazing it actually looked.

And now lit by the spotlights . . .

Here's an amazing shot of the crosses - with the moon seen above them . . .

And last - the replica of the Shroud of Turin they also house onsite . . . 

Thanks for allowing me to share this experience with you. Hopefully some of you will be able to add it to an agenda of a trip you plan in the future. It's worth it to try to time it at evening though, although the statues are not lit - so make sure you get there with daylight left to appreciate the entire experience. There is also a wonderful gift shop with a vast collection of spiritual art work.  That itself was worth the price of admission (which is all free, btw.)