Kim's Place

Joliet couple want their Christmas painting back

January 11, 2010
By TONY GRAF tgraf@scn1.com

JOLIET -- For seven Christmas seasons, John and Alice Harrell have displayed a large painting depicting the history of Jesus Christ.

The painting -- 18 feet long and 34 inches high -- has been on the front deck of their home at 2205 Marmion Ave. in the Marycrest subdivision. The painting's four panels have shown Christ's nativity, crucifixion, resurrection and second coming.

John Harrell and his wife, Alice, look at the empty place where one of the panels of his Christmas mural was. The section was stolen sometime last Monday night or Tuesday morning. john patsch/staff photographer From:
http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/heraldnews/news/1983932,JO11_STOLEN_P1.fullimage

Until this year, there has never been an incident or problem with the painting. But early last week, someone stole the first panel, which shows the star over Bethlehem, John said Saturday.

The theft took place between 9:30 p.m. Jan. 4 and 4:30 a.m. Jan. 5, John said. Tracks on the front-yard snow indicated that one or two people were involved, he added.

John is asking for the return of the panel.

"We wouldn't hold anything against anybody if they brought it back," he said.
Meaning of painting

The Harrells display the painting every year to emphasize that the meaning of Christmas is Christ.

"We believe that Christmas is the celebration of the birth of Christ," John said in a Saturday interview. "A lot of people have done other things -- Santa Claus and all kinds of things -- but the reason for the season is Jesus."

John also wants to emphasize that one cannot have history without Christ.

"The press keeps trying to separate us from God under the guise of separation of church and state. I contend that if you are honest, you cannot separate God from the founding of the United States any more than you can take him out of history," John said in a written statement.

In the first few years of the display, the Harrells also showed the painting at Easter, which celebrates the Resurrection.

"This is what we believe history is all about," he said.

John does not like the trend of no longer using the historical terms "BC" and "AD," which stand for "Before Christ" and "Anno Domini," or "In the Year of Our Lord."

Today, writers often use the terms "BCE" or "CE," which stand for "Before the Common Era" and "Common Era."

"It's political correctness," John said. "It's like saying 'Happy Holidays' instead of 'Merry Christmas.'"

The painting is the work of Dan Allen, who in 2003 was a graphic design major at Pensacola Christian College in Florida.

Alice said the painting is a unique way of displaying the meaning of Christmas.

"The years we've had it up, we've just had so many comments from neighbors and people who drive past here -- how much they like it," she said. Seeking return

Alice said there would be "no hard feelings" if someone were to return the painting.

John said: "They could bring it to the front door, and knock on the door, and I'd shake their hands and say, 'Thank you.' If they were afraid that we might do something, they could bring it back in the middle of the night and lean it up against the railing."

"If whoever did it was man enough, as we say, to bring it back, I would respect that, and thank them for it. No prosecution."