I haven’t had any of those visions yet

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Discussion

May 20, 2009

Dwain Walden The Moultrie Observer Wed May 20, 2009, 11:27 PM EDT

I’ve never seen an unexplained image of the Virgin Mary. I don’t know if I haven’t looked hard enough or maybe it’s because I’m not Catholic.

After that person sold that piece of toast on e-bay that he claimed depicted a likeness of the Virgin Mary, I stared at my toast for months afterward. The best I could ever get was what might have appeared to be John the Baptist. But it could just as well have been John Lennon.

There have been all sorts of reports involving images and appearances of the Virgin Mary through the years.

And now in Springfield, Mass., there is the case of the appearance of the Virgin Mary in a second story window of a hospital. Traffic problems caused the hospital to remove the window.

Engineers said the image appeared when a rubber seal deteriorated and mineral deposits collected between the panes of glass.

The hospital has hidden the window until it decides what to do. So I’m wondering if they are going to put it up for sale on e-bay. I would think it has just as much appeal to buyers as would a piece of burned toast, perhaps even more since it involved a hospital where some people are snatched from the jaws of death and where others pass on. I would think that the Virgin Mary is more relevant to a hospital than to a piece of toast.

Among my thoughts about all of this is that none of us today know what the Virgin Mary actually looked like. All we know is how famous artists and funeral home fans have depicted her. We have our perceptions based on their perceptions.

Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not putting this in the same category as people who see Bigfoot. I do not fool around with lightning. If someone thinks seeing an image such as this likeness of Virgin Mary is a holy experience, I’m just going to say, “Amen, brother.”

After all, some people can view a chunk of coal and see a warm fire. Others see it and wonder how much pressure it would take to convert it into a diamond.

But let’s get back a moment to those perceptions I mentioned. I think we all develop them, relative to stories we’ve heard. And in regard to Biblical characters, perhaps it’s the way a particular clergy presented them on a given day. I once heard an evangelist preach about the Apostle Paul in such a way that ever since then, I have pictured Paul as being a short, fat bald-headed fellow who never had a girlfriend. Yet, I have never seen an image of him in toast, cornbread or cold grits. And if I had, it might also have been construed as an image of Don Rickles.

Now when I say he didn’t have a girlfriend, please don’t read between the lines and think I’m implying anything other than my impression that Paul was married to the church and didn’t have time for a wife and family.

Again, if people see images and if such experiences improve their lives, then I would say it’s a good thing.

By the way, I just looked at the stains on my coffee cup, and if I really squint, I can make out a bass boat. Now if I can only convince my wife that this has been a spiritual experience .... You know Jesus did hang around with fishermen.

(Dwain Walden is editor/publisher of The Moultrie Observer, 985-4545. E-mail: dwain.walden@gaflnews.com)

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