Church in the Wildwood

This photo comes from the website Colossal

          Back before the whole world was a megachurch, my hometown was about evenly divided between those whose god lived a civilized kind of life in a churchy sort of building and those whose god lived rough in the mountains. 

          

          At the time, my god lived in a church, and I felt superior to those whose god lived outdoors—mostly because I was taught that suffering refines and makes you more holy, and I am here to testify that there's no greater suffering, church-wise, than a three-hour meeting seated on hard pews listening to a droning assortment of religious boringosity.*

          But when I became an adult, I put away childish things and found my deity, such as it is, outdoors. I certainly never thought I would see the god of churches and the god of nature so perfectly united in this lovely chapel, built by an apprentice of Frank Lloyd Wright.

          The Thorncrown Chapel (for that is its lovely name) is located in the Ozarks, in Eureka Springs, Arkansas. In a classic case of man putting asunder what god hath joined together, a power company apparently has plans to build a 48-mile high voltage transmission line through the woods next to the chapel, destroying the view.

          You can read more about the Thorncrown Chapel on Colossal here (including a link to Arkansas Public Service Commission comments page where you can offer your opinion on building this transmission line), and on the Thorncrown Chapel website here. 

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*If what I was taught about suffering were actually true, by the way, I would have been raptured to a greater glory by the age of 10.