Ripley’s Believe It Or Not.
Okay, so it’s not the most sophisticated of museums; in fact, I’m not really sure it really qualifies as a museum by any academic standard. But when people go to places like Gatlinburg, a tourist trap by almost any definition one usually takes in one or two such traps, so. . . .
Two-headed calves, men who drive nails up their nose, a woman who swallows swords, strange things from far away places, and amusing tombstones (“John Yeast—forgive me for not rising!”) are all interesting oddities. But the thing that I pondered the most is what sort of person would travel over land and sea looking for the most bizarre and outlandish people and things to write about or collect?
What sort of person was Robert Ripley? Though he died in 1949, the search for the crazy and the odd, the odyssey for the unbelievable continues.
What prompted him to visit 185 countries? What was he really looking for? Another story? Another oddity to promote or to collect? Was Ripley incurably curious or was he just weird?
One thing is for sure; he was relentless in his pursuit. “Not that I have already obtained this or have already reached the goal; but press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Beloved, I do not consider that I have made it my one; but this one thing I do; forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of God’s divine call in Christ Jesus.” (Paul in Philippians)
Two-headed calves, men who drive nails up their nose, a woman who swallows swords, strange things from far away places, and amusing tombstones (“John Yeast—forgive me for not rising!”) are all interesting oddities. But the thing that I pondered the most is what sort of person would travel over land and sea looking for the most bizarre and outlandish people and things to write about or collect?
What sort of person was Robert Ripley? Though he died in 1949, the search for the crazy and the odd, the odyssey for the unbelievable continues.
What prompted him to visit 185 countries? What was he really looking for? Another story? Another oddity to promote or to collect? Was Ripley incurably curious or was he just weird?
One thing is for sure; he was relentless in his pursuit. “Not that I have already obtained this or have already reached the goal; but press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Beloved, I do not consider that I have made it my one; but this one thing I do; forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of God’s divine call in Christ Jesus.” (Paul in Philippians)
posted by Carson | 2:43 PM
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