You may remember I last wrote about the wildflowers on the Arizona border. From there we made our way to Flagstaff for a couple of nights. The plan was to see Sedona without paying Sedona lodging fees! One sighting amusing to me was a tractor trailer company that moved mobile homes. Both appropriate and amusing that it was called “La Casa!” They were based in Las Cruces but worked in much of New Mexico and Arizona. There are many mobile homes in the Southwest. I prayed they all had air conditioning and good heat with the huge temperature ranges out there.

It was a nice drive to Sedona, though I am uncertain if we ever found the road we were actually looking for! We did find the Chapel of the Holy Cross, April 6, 2019.

Built in 1956 it was inspired in 1932 by Marguerite Brunswick Staude decades before the perfect location was finally found. Final design by architects Anshen & Allen, completed 1957.

So to enter you climb a steep walkway up the to the precipice where the chapel is built. It is a lovely chapel. On the inside it is small, and the Catholic diocese eventually moved to another site to accommodate their congregational size. The crucifix in the chapel is not the original one which was said to be too strange. I found this one unusal and also a bit strange.

First off, I believe Christ has risen from the dead so the entire idea of showing his body still on the cross disturbs me. I like the cross with a living Christ the best. The image of the cross is actually an apple tree! If you look closely you can see the apples still upon it. (Think Adam and Eve in the garden?) I thought that quite creative as Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 15:45 (NRSV)  Thus it is written, “The first man, Adam, became a living being”; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit.

So perhaps in the keeping of a life-giving spirit or because it was just weird Sedona, this “corpus” has his eyes open!

On the curved walk back down to the parking area there was a slow going crowd. Another lady and myself noticed this little pine tree.

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It did not seem to be planted there purposely like the flowers on the way up. It inspired us with the hope of “never give up!” Even little trees can take root in mighty red rocks and flourish.