The Billy Graham Memorial Barn

So yesterday, one of my dear, sweet volunteers took me aside privately and asked me, "I can remember some one telling me that Billy Graham is building a memorial to himself in the shape of a barn, that he wants to be buried in it, and that request has caused a rift in his family." She went on, "I've been asking around, but no one here knows what I'm talking about." She added, "Am I loosing my mind?"

I thought a moment and said, "Well, I can't comment upon your mental instability, but I haven't heard anything about that."

I could think of only one person who might: Phil Johnson. I called him immediately and he said, "Oh yeah. I read about that like right before Christmas." He continued, "Hold on a second. Here. I just "googled" Graham, Barn, Burial and came up with a whole list of articles." I got off the phone with him and sure enough, I "googled" the three magic words and POOF! There were several articles dated back to mid-December 2006 highlighting the construction of a Billy Graham Memorial Library in the shape of a barn. This is the first I had even heard of this.

One article highlighted how a person will walk through a giant glass cross entrance and be greeted with a mechanical cow designed by the Disney Company who will sing the Pirate's song. No, just kidding. I am sure the cow will give a tasteful presentation and be respectful to what the visitors are about to see. The folks will then follow straw filled paths to various multi-media presentations covering the life of Billy Graham.

As for the disagreement between family members. According to the article, Franklin wants to bury his parents at the memorial barn. Surely it won't be some massive gold laden sarcophagus in the shape of a hay bail sitting in the lobby, but Franklin's brother Ned doesn't like the idea, and so there is tension that threatens to split the "royal family of American religion" as the reporter describes them.

The barn theme, in case anyone is wondering, is a play on Billy's upbringing on a dairy farm. Its a good thing he wasn't raised on a chicken farm. The KFC people would be suing for copyright violations.