OK, I know that some people see the face of their religious icons in random things. I’ve written about this a zillion times. And I know that sometimes it’s just pareidolia, our tendency to see faces in random objects. And I know that people will think it’s a miracle, when really it’s the end-product of thousands of generations of the evolution of our pattern-seeking abilities.
But then there’s stuff like this: a guy is "clueless" about how the face of Jesus appeared on his truck window, and why it persists day after day.
Oh, I have a clue. It’s clearly not random, which means it’s either a) divine, or 2) drawn on by someone. My conclusion that it’s (2) comes from having a daughter who would take her finger and draw her name in the misty back window of my car when she was younger. And also doing it myself when I was a kid. And seeing eighty bazillion examples of this as a human living in America.
So I think someone drew it on the window. The oil from their finger doesn’t wash off with water, so every morning the picture reappears with the advent (advent! Haha! A little funny for the upcoming season) on the morning dew.
But, of course, that’s just me. When I hear hoofbeats I think horses, not zebras. And since I don’t live near a zoo or in the African plains, I’m guessing what we have here is a horse-drawn carriage.
Um. Well. You know what I mean.
Picture credit: (AP Photo/Johnson City Press, Lee Talbert)
November 6th, 2009 at 10:37 am
You mean Jeebus isn’t sitting in the truck waiting for a ride?
November 6th, 2009 at 10:43 am
The story could be summed up entirely by: “guy is “clueless”" and just end it at that.
November 6th, 2009 at 10:45 am
At least they did not just write “wash me”.
November 6th, 2009 at 10:50 am
Heh. The phrase “United ‘99 #8 Rocks” appears on the rear window of my car on chilly mornings. I’m fairly sure I know how that got there.
I find it amusing and relevant that the images of Jesus that appear on car windows and in potato chips and the like always look like a fairly generic European male with long hair and a neatly trimmed beard, and not much like you’d expect a 1st century Jewish man to look.
November 6th, 2009 at 10:50 am
I’m afraid I don’t know what you mean. =(
November 6th, 2009 at 11:05 am
Whomever made that finger drawing is a better artist than I. Nicely done.
November 6th, 2009 at 11:11 am
I remember a trick I read in a ‘magic for kids’ book I read years ago. Use soap (dish soap, bar soap, etc) to draw a design on a window, lightly enough that it’s not easily visible. When you breathe on it, the widow fogs up and the design will ‘magically’ appear. Good for those ‘is this the number you’re thinking of’ tricks.
November 6th, 2009 at 11:20 am
When I hear hoofbeats I think horses, not zebras.
I think coconut shells….
November 6th, 2009 at 11:24 am
I remember many years ago, as a joke I encouraged the younger brother of a friend of mine to use RainX (anti-fog coating liquid) to write a … lets just say “less than polite” … word in the back window of his brother’s (my buddy’s) car.
The stuff goes on completely clear (like the soap trick from post #7). A couple days later when the weather was cooler, he was heading home and this word started to appear in his back window as a ‘void’ in the fog.
November 6th, 2009 at 11:32 am
I just know there’s someone out there right now who’s making a Darwin fish stencil…
November 6th, 2009 at 11:45 am
Why the automatic assumption that it’s a picture of Jesus? It could be any man with long hair and a beard. Looking at it closely, I’m thinking it’s a picture of Jeff Lebowski. It’s probably just a sign that The Dude wants his rug cleaned.
It really tied the room together.
November 6th, 2009 at 11:48 am
When I hear hoofbeats I think horses, not zebras.
I think coconut shells….
With perhaps a string tied to them so a couple of swallows could carry them?
November 6th, 2009 at 11:51 am
Thomas/Eccles
Were the shells brought by African or Europen swallows?
November 6th, 2009 at 11:55 am
Were the shells brought by African or Europen swallows?
I don’t know…. AAAAAARRRGGHHH!!!!!
November 6th, 2009 at 11:57 am
Reminds me of the bumper sticker: God is my co-pilot.
I’ve considered an additional sticker to add to it: but Satan is navigating.
J/P=?
November 6th, 2009 at 12:03 pm
Looks like Charles Manson to me…
November 6th, 2009 at 12:04 pm
Maybe we shouldn’t be too hard on Mr. Stevens. He isn’t attributing the portrait to anything supernatural, but rather, seems to think it’s a cool mystery. I think we all know how the news media like to emphasize trivial (or even non-existent) parts of a story in order to sell their stuff. If anyone is up for ridicule, I think it’s The Associated Press.
Okay, gouge him a little for jumping to the conclusion that a picture of any random guy with a beard has gotta be Jebus. But the A.P. may have made that up, too.
November 6th, 2009 at 12:24 pm
It’s called Windex! Use some, and join the truly enlightened!
November 6th, 2009 at 1:03 pm
@John Paradox,
God is my co-pilot but Satan is in charge of the in-flight entertainment?
November 6th, 2009 at 1:27 pm
@4 Jay and @11 Toasterhead +1
It’s a strange god who changes the race of his only son !
Oh there I go anthropomorphising again – God’s Prophet should be a meatball !
It looks like a surfer I know.
At least he doesn’t have his football gear on !
November 6th, 2009 at 2:07 pm
Wait, wait, i know what this is.
Hold your breath:
“Deus ad machina”
bwaaaahaaaahaaa
November 6th, 2009 at 2:13 pm
Another thing: the guy claims that he won’t be washing his vehicle for a while; it wouldn’t really matter, because the image was drawn on the INSIDE of the window.
November 6th, 2009 at 2:23 pm
I always thought the Dead lyric “,,,I may be going to hell in a bucket babe, but at least I’m enjoying the ride,,,” would have made a good bumper sticker. Now I’m thinking that and the soap trick would be really disconcerting to someone following me, on a cold day.
Gary 7
November 6th, 2009 at 2:50 pm
It really is a nice drawing though.
November 6th, 2009 at 7:50 pm
@JP: No, Satan is my bombardier. I’ve got Polaris navigating. Waist, turret and tail gunners are the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. Satan convinced them to leave the horses behind. No co-pilot — couldn’t find anyone to take this ride with me.
November 6th, 2009 at 11:11 pm
I live in Johnson City and saw this headline in the local paper (front page!). Thank you for addressing it.
We also had a “manifestation” of Mary at the catholic church here years ago. She “appeared” as condensation on a window.
November 6th, 2009 at 11:31 pm
I recall an old cartoon with a cop talking to a lady in a car. “I understand that God is your co-pilot, ma’am, but that still doesn’t qualify you to drive in the HOV lane.”
November 7th, 2009 at 1:47 am
That ain’t Jesus, y’all, it’s Duane Allman!
RIP Duane…
November 7th, 2009 at 2:27 am
I recall an old cartoon with a cop talking to a lady in a car. “I understand that God is your co-pilot, ma’am, but that still doesn’t qualify you to drive in the HOV lane.”
Sorry… forgot to say great post – can’t wait to read your next one!
November 7th, 2009 at 2:34 am
God was my co-pilot but we crashed in the mountains so I ate him.
November 7th, 2009 at 8:19 am
I think it was an old decal of of the Xian Zombie Lord that was removed, possibly, before this man purchased a used truck. The residue from the sticker, or the removal of some of the glass’s protective coating by the adhesive, left this image. I’ll give him the credit of being that stupid and credulous rather than assume he’s a liar, since people of this sort seem to think being stupid and credulous are positive attributes.
I wonder if this man’s faith is strong enough to ask for a lab to test the glass? HA! Nobody’s faith is ever THAT strong. It’s much easier to post the picture on the web, claim miracle, and sigh with relief as the ignorant cover you with “argumentum ad populam.”
November 7th, 2009 at 9:55 am
30. Shane Says:
God was my co-pilot but we crashed in the mountains so I ate him.
Was that in the Andes?
Thanks to the others who came up with their own variations….
J/P=?
November 7th, 2009 at 10:13 am
I think that is John Lennon in the window. Maybe he is announcing a Come Back [From The Dead] Tour.
November 7th, 2009 at 12:26 pm
11. toasterhead Says: “Why the automatic assumption that it’s a picture of Jesus? It could be any man with long hair and a beard.”
I thought it was the Zig-Zag guy.
- Jack
November 7th, 2009 at 3:00 pm
Whatever they were, they were definitely laden, so you have to include that in your speed calculations.
November 8th, 2009 at 4:37 pm
I’m with Jack. I immediately thought Zig Zag.