R U READY by TomDart

Photography • Religious/Spiritual • posted on Apr 19, 2011

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Description

As a kid riding with my family on the two lane roads, once in a while I would see a sign on the side of the road or painted on a rock face. R U READY was a religious message. I never liked the abbreviations and the signs were curiosities. Rescued from a mining accident in 1920 a man named Harold Mayes lived when he was supposed to die..after that he went to putting up religious signs on highways everywhere he could. His signs were more sophisticated than the simple ones painted on a board or rock. His first were made of wood then more permanent concrete was used. The number of signs was tremendous. Some folks continued his work for a while. He intended these to be all over the world but did not quite get that far. Here are two examples from the Museum of Appalachia in Tennessee.

Comments (9)

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mininessie

1:24PM | Tue, 19 April 2011

a curious thing!

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odie

4:07PM | Tue, 19 April 2011

Wonderful image and the timing to post this during Holy Week is obvious - at least to me. God Bless!

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blinkings

4:13PM | Tue, 19 April 2011

We have people walking around our city with shopping carts and loud speakers spreading the same message!!!!! Beginning in the 1930s Arthur Stace spent his early morning hours writing the word "Eternity" in a distinctive cursive style in every doorway, on every street, and major entrance to a public area that he could find in Sydney. For years, the citizens of the city wondered who was writing the "one word sermon" and why. Every once in a while, someone would claim responsibility for the graffiti and the newspapers would print the stories. In 1956, Stace was a member of the Burton Street Baptist Church, where he also served as the janitor and a prayer leader. One day, the pastor of the church, Rev. Lisle M. Thompson, stumbled across Stace while he was writing his chalk message on a sidewalk and the mystery of the "Eternity" messages all over Sydney was solved. Stace said that after his conversion to Christianity, he heard a sermon in which the evangelist said "Eternity! Eternity! Oh, that this word could be emblazoned across the streets of Sydney!" In his simple way, Stace decided to do that. There is a huge illuminated sign on the Sydney Harbour Bridge that says "Eternity" in Trace's distinctive handwriting, a sign that was clearly seen by hundreds of millions of people during the fireworks display at the end of the opening ceremonies at the Olympics in Sydney in 2000.

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jgkane

4:41PM | Tue, 19 April 2011

For a few folk, thus day, this reminder will be a timely one. Soon we will have Good Friday, and Jesus' sacrifice, pointing out that we all die, we all should be prepared for our end, wherever that may be. Thanks for posting this earnest memorial, even if the modern day world holds death as its last taboo, something to be ignored, rather than faced. Warm regards, from a warm, dry Glasgow ( no truly .. ), John.

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kgb224

7:01PM | Tue, 19 April 2011

Wonderful find and capture Tom.

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jocko500

10:58PM | Tue, 19 April 2011

wonderful. i just see crosses on the side of the road but that shows where some one die there. this is wonderful and thanks for the history of these types of crosses. i hope to see some soon

MrsLubner

12:42AM | Wed, 20 April 2011

I love the story. Something unknown to me. The message and the man's dedication to sharing it is touching. I may not go that far to spread the news, but I feel for this man's emotion and sincerity. Great shot, Tom!

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