Tuesday, 15 June 2010

RIP Touchdown Jesus

Some times when you live abroad you get news from home that is unwelcome to say the least.  Today it seems many of my Midwestern friends' facebook statuses were dedicated to the "King of Kings" statue on I-75.  He is better known locally as Touchdown Jesus (for my international readers, this refers to the gesture the referee makes when someone scores in American football), and I think it is safe to say he will be sorely missed.


This picture does not do him justice.  He is massive, at 62 feet high.  Ironically, in what can only be described as an act of God, he was struck by lightening last night, and totally burned down.

I will always remember seeing him at the end of my long drives home from university in Chicago.  He seemed to welcome me home, back to my Christian roots, to friends and family who despite their love of Christ, always managed to have a good laugh at this statue.

He was most certainly an Ohio landmark, perhaps our equivalent to the Eiffel Tower, and I dare say not a soul, Christians, Atheists, Hindus or Jews, could drive past him without cracking a smile.

RIP Touchdown Jesus.
You will be missed.

6 comments:

  1. this is awesome.

    I have never heard of this statue - I love this.

    So sad about what happened to TDJ. Rebuild?!

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  2. What a great landmark! lol Are they going to rebuild??

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  3. ummm that is really sad. i never even got to see it in person!

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  4. That thing is AWESOME, such a bummer about what happened! Lucky that you actually aw it though! Pretty unforgettable!

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  5. Good news - word on the street is they're planning to rebuild!

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  6. no way! I was just thinking that a visit to Ohio would be worth it just to see this huge Jesus but what has hapenned is ironic indeed! well thanks for sharing!
    Catita
    http://catindreamland.blogspot.com/

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