By Mark Wineka
mwineka@salisburypost.com
On Good Friday, Tim Jones had a cross to bear.
About three months ago, Jones envisioned building a cross and carrying it through the streets of Salisbury as a sign of his deep Christian faith.
He finally shared the idea with his father, Randy, at a recent Thursday night Bible study, and the father and son decided to build the cross this past Monday in Randy’s garage.
They bolted together the 10-foot by 6-foot pieces of lumber and Randy, the engineer in the family, attached some mower wheels on the base. Tim would carry the weight of the cross on his shoulders, while the bottom rolled along the sidewalks and pavement.
After finishing work Friday at the Salisbury National Cemetery next to the Hefner VA Medical Center, 32-year-old Tim went home, grabbed a bite to eat and prayed with his parents before leaving their Majolica Road home with the cross in tow.
“I just want to remind people of Jesus and what he did for them on the cross,” Jones said.
He had it in his mind to at least make it to the Square in Salisbury. He wore a long-sleeved shirt, a ballcap and gloves and made much of his roughly 5-mile journey in a light rain.
Some people stopped. Others honked. Some gave him the thumbs-up sign.
“Some even asked me what I was doing,” Jones said.
Overall, it was a positive experience — a “stepping out in faith,” he added.
Jones estimated the cross weighed “every bit of 60 pounds,” and he acknowledged a sore shoulder by the time he reached the Square in just under two-and-a-half hours.
Jones had told his dad he would call to be picked up when he was finished Friday night, but he decided at the Square he still had a few steps left in him.
“I feel great,” he said, and he was off again.
Bearing the cross.
Contact Mark Wineka at 704-797-4263.