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PARADIMENSIONS NEWS :. |
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INVITATION TO VIEW 'JESUS FACE' CABINET |
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Public invited to view Jesus cabinet
News-Messenger reports
The Fremont man whose wooden cabinet features what he says is the face of Jesus is opening the cabinet to public inspection.
Gene Smith and his wooden cabinet were featured in The News-Messenger on Monday and later on an area news broadcast. Smith said people have been skeptical about his intentions, so he'd like to let people make up their own minds.
"(We're) better off to let people come by and look," he said.
Smith got the cabinet in Norwalk almost 15 years ago but only recently decided to refinish it. As he stripped the finish from the wood, an image began to appear, one he says is the face of Jesus. The more Smith worked on the cabinet, the clearer the image became.
The "face" covers both sides of the front of the cabinet, with the wavy wood grain appearing to show facial features and dark hair.
Two white circles, where the cabinet's door handles were, might be described as the eyes of the face.
Smith said he's still undecided about what to do with the cabinet. He hopes others who see it will be able to clear up what type of wood it is or even where it was made.
To see the cabinet, call Smith at 419-334-8617 or stop at his house, 1710 Cherry St.
.:Story originally published by:.
The News Messenger Fremont/ OH - Dec 08.05
(Original headline: 'I just could not believe what I was seeing' )
While stripping wood off old cabinet, Fremont man finds what he believes is face of Jesus
Lynn Reineck and Gene Smith decided it was time to put an old, wooden cabinet to use after years of taking up space in a basement corner.
As coats of white paint thinned away under the hands of Reineck, the mundane wood-stripping task revealed the unexplainable -- what Reineck believes is the face of Jesus.
"I just could not believe what I was seeing," Smith said. "It struck me like there has to be a reason for everything."
The "face" covers both sides of the front of the cabinet, with the wavy wood grain appearing to show facial features and dark hair. Two white circles, where the cabinet's door handles were, might be described as the eyes of the face.
Smith got the cabinet in Norwalk almost 15 years ago, when it appeared destined for the trash. He had other plans, however, and took the cabinet to his home on Cherry Street in Fremont, where it's been ever since. Smith and Reineck decided it was time for a project and brought the cabinet into the garage to begin the work recently.
Sanding down layer by layer revealed dominant lines that slowly took shape into what they believe is the image of Jesus' face.
"I kept sanding down the wood, we just didn't think much of the image at first," Reineck said. "But the more we stripped it, the more the image stood out, and I had to take a step back."
Now they wonder what to do with the cabinet. They aren't sure using it as a fish tank stand as they had planned is appropriate.
"I think we threw the fish tank idea out the window," Smith said. "l really don't know what is possible now," if the face is really Jesus. But it's all in one's belief. Reineck suggested turning the cabinet into a shrine or, as a friend suggested, selling it on eBay.
Smith and Reineck said they don't want the cabinet to become a worship center as has been the case at a statue of the Virgin Mary in Sacramento, Calif. People have been flocking there to see what they believe are tears of blood being shed by the statue.
But Smith said the likeness on his cabinet is shocking.
"It is just so detailed and realistic that it sort of weirded me out," Smith said.
"Whoever painted it had to see it, you just can't miss it."
.:Story originally published by:.
The News Messenger Fremont/ OH | Janell Kingsborough - Dec 05.05
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