It's well known that cleanliness is up there next to Godliness, but Roisin McCourt wasn't expecting Jesus to pop out of her washing machine load.
Dance teacher Ms McCourt was shocked when she saw the unusual brown stain, which shows what seem to be the facial features of a long-haired, bearded man.
Ms McCourt, 31, has since been mobbed with requests from believers wishing to make a pilgrimage to see the holy imprint.
The Coventry resident said: 'When I took it out I could not believe it. I could see it was Jesus straightaway. I took it to my husband and he agreed with me.
'I don't even know what the stain was made from I had not seen it before I had put it in the washing.
She believes that she has received a sign from God after receiving the surprise.She said: 'I am Catholic but I am not extremely religious we don't go to mass every weekend but after finding this it has definitely made my faith stronger.'
Some of Ms McCourt's friends have said the image on the towel looks more like Elvis, but Ms McCourt is not convinced.'I know some people will think it's crazy and I feel a bit silly saying it but I really believe that it is his face.'
'The strange thing is that I have started receiving calls from people asking me if they can come and see the tea towel.
'You never know, it could be Coventry's answer to the Turin Shroud,' she added.Another resident from Coventry, Alex Cotton, last year claimed to see Jesus face on her drainpipe.
We all know that the Lord likes to make his presence felt, be it on a naan bread, in a chip pan or even on Google maps, but now it seems he's taken to the drainpipes of suburbia as well.
Nurse Alex Cotton, 38, returned home from a football match with friends when the holy son decided to make his entrance. While chatting in the garden, eagle-eyed Cotton noticed the mysterious smudge, noticing that ‘It’s got his crown of thorns and beard,’.
We're not entirely sure it's the son of God (it's not), but talk to us after an afternoon's drinking while watching the football and we may well change our minds.
Cotton has even invited the Pope to visit the scene of Jesus' latest apparition, though we imagine his holiness will probably give this one a miss on his next tour of the UK.
Then, just a few days back, there was Jesus in (or on) a log.And they are not alone, Mrs Robertson.
However, someone who probably won't be laughing (apart from the Pope that is) is Mitchell Grainger, 25, who spotted the Good Lord in a photo of his pet chicken taking a dust bath. A well-known organ of the press (yep, them again) reported Mr Grainger's astonishment at the revelation:
'I literally said ‘Jesus Christ’ when I saw the picture. The face of Jesus is clear to see and when I showed my mom she even pointed out the ring of thorns.'
Gloria, of Rowley Regis, West Midlands, obviously has someone watching over her, after miraculously escaping a vicious fox attack.
'It is strange that it would appear on Gloria because not long ago she was the only chicken out of 20 that wasn’t killed by a fox. She was standing on the step when he came and miraculously wasn’t touched' Grainger added.
'That's why we called her Gloria, after Gloria Gaynor's song 'I Will Survive.'
I confess, on this Palm Sunday, that I believe that the person of Jesus is, in a mystical sense, alive and abroad in our world, infusing and informing the cultural history of mankind.
Thanks to the Metro, I now also believe that quite a lot of people are amazingly stupid and gullible and that newspapers are utterly shameless in their devotion to such attributes!
Hmmmm...
While he acknowledges that Disney stories carry messages showing good triumphing over evil, he argues this is part of a ploy to persuade people that they should buy Disney products in order to be "a good and happy family".
He cites films such as Sleeping Beauty and 101 Dalmatians that feature moral battles, but get into children's imaginations and make them greedy for the merchandise that goes with them.
"The message behind every movie and book, behind every theme park and T-shirt is that our children's world needs Disney," he says.
"So they absolutely must go to see the next Disney movie, which we'll also want to give them on DVD as a birthday present.
"They will be happier if they live the full Disney experience; and thousands of families around the world buy into this deeper message as they flock to Disneyland."
He continues: "This is the new pilgrimage that children desire, a rite of passage into the meaning of life according to Disney.
"Where once morality and meaning were available as part of our free cultural inheritance, now corporations sell them to us as products."
Fr Jamison, who is one of Britain's most prominent Catholic clerics, claims that brands such as Disney market themselves to be about more than mere materialism to create an addiction to consumption.
"This is basically the commercial exploitation of spirituality," he says, adding that as a result Disney and other corporations "inhabit our imagination".
"Once planted there they can make us endlessly greedy. And that is exactly what they are doing."
I know, I know! There are those who will say that the tone of this blog is - as they say - really going down the tubes!
An article by Danny Buckland in today's Sunday Express about Kenneth Grahame and The Wind in the Willows ('The tragic life of the man who dreamed of the riverbank') quotes some doubtful authority on the subject referred to as "acclaimed author and playwright Brian Sibley". I won't bore you with what he said - I put it rather better myself on yesterday's blog!First News, by the way, is (and I quote) "the award-winning newspaper for KIDS"! Natch!
GUILTY GOATS?
A herd of goats found locked up in jail
The animals were spotted in a police cell in Africa when a politician was having a look round.
The politician, Claude Nyamugabo, was on a routine visit to see prisoners in the Democratic Republic of Congo. But he was astonished to find one of the cells packed out with 12 goats. The animals were due to appear in court charged with being sold, against the law, by the side of the road.
Mr Nyamugabo immediately ordered that the goats should be released from prison. He went on to say that the police had “serious gaps” in their knowledge. He ordered them to go for more training.
First News wonders what the goats’ punishment would have been if they had been found guilty. Perhaps they would have been baaaaaanned from grazing for six months.
Click to enlarge
A little while ago I mentioned the plight of a young Iranian who was seeking asylum in Britain because his boyfriend had been hanged in Iran for sodomy and he was fearful that returning to his homeland would be a one way ticket to the gallows. He was justified in his anxiety since an estimated 4000 gay men and lesbians are believed to have been hanged in Iran in the last 30 years. After reading that, my life seems positively fragrant!Foul smell will cease, Sibley says
Company begins phasing out chemical that causes stench
BELLINGHAM — The odor that has disturbed Roosevelt and Sunnyland residents should abate by early next week, now that Brooks Manufacturing Co. has agreed to phase out use of an offending chemical...
Brooks spokesman Brian Sibley said the company expects to make the switch by Monday, acting on its own initiative. "We have identified a solvent," Sibley said, "that we believe will accomplish the same task with substantially less odor." The odor came from one of the ingredients - aliphatic esters.
The esters are part of a mix of chemicals that Brooks uses to treat lumber at its plant at 2120 Pacific St. Sibley said the change in the process won’t disrupt production. "We’re very committed to solving this problem and to continue to be a good neighbor," Sibley said.
