Gil Burns holds two crucifixes that he made out of nails. (Staff photo by Dave Rains) Posted on 09/22/2004 7:14:37 PM PDT by Destro
Gaining inspiration: Man feels closer to God making crucifixes
By Jeff Adair/ Staff Writer
Friday, September 17, 2004
Gil Burns holds two crucifixes that he made out of nails. (Staff photo by Dave Rains)
On his 50th of 105 missions piloting a P-47 Thunderbolt striking German targets and giving air support to ground troops during World War II, Gilbert Burns found religion.
That often happens when a person stares at death and is given a second chance on life.
"I was hit by a flak. I thought I was dead," says Burns, 82, whose memories of that fateful day, Feb. 23, 1945 remains fresh. "For the first time in my life, I looked up to God and asked for help. By a miracle, he helped me."
Burns, a retired dental technician who lives a relatively quiet life in his Edgell Road home, is completing a book about his experiences in the war.
When he's not writing or toiling around the house, he sits in his workshop doing a hobby that provides serenity, he said, and gives a feeling of being closer to God.
Burns makes abstract crucifixes from nails soldered together. Each is unique and measures 5-6 inches in length. They can be worn around the neck or hung on the wall for display.
The crucifixes have been given to visiting priests at St. Nicholas Orthodox Church in Shrewsbury and a few people around town. They have also been mailed to priests in England, Nigeria and Poland and to such notables as President George W. Bush and President Vkadimer Putin of Russia.
Seven months ago, Bush's office sent Burns a thank you note, he said, and President Putin sent a registered receipt as proof that it was delivered.
"When you're doing them, it's like sort of being in church," said Burns, an active senior citizen who does the lindy hop with his girlfriend during weekly swing dances in Uxbridge. "You feel like you're doing something spiritual. It's a nice feeling and it rests your mind from the troubles of the world."
The story of his faith goes back to World War II when Burns, who grew up in Newton, almost died when his low flying plane was hit by enemy fire.
Burns, who kept a diary during his service, tells the minute details of that day in the yet to be titled book, from breakfast "as horrible as usual, grapefruit juice more potent than vinegar, unpalatable powdered eggs, imitation pancakes with syrup resembling crank case oil" to his crash landing at the Toul Airstrip in France.
The P-47 Burns flew was air cooled and built to take hits, he said. Flying past Zweibrucken, Germany, on route to Landau, Burns was hit. His stick jammed. His radio went dead. The rudder and wingtips were tattered.
"I had no control over it," he recalled. "That was the first time I ever said a prayer and (God) answered it. So I figured there must be something.
When he finally made it back to the airstrip, the plane hit the ground at 250 mph and Burns' head bucked forward to within one inch of the steel gunsight, "one inch away from having my face crushed."
Burns, who seemed happy to answer question about his service, was modest during an interview, wondering aloud whether readers will find his story interesting.
The walls of his family room are plastered with photos from the war. He recently donated his jacket, helmet, scarf and other mementos to the Framingham Historical Society & Museum.
Born a Protestant, Burns married in 1950 to a "Roman Catholic girl" so he converted to that faith. After his wife died in 1990, he met his girlfriend, Frances Rose.
The two were drawn to the Orthodox church because they loved the chanting. The real kicker, the thing that persuaded them to convert and led to his hobby, came on Easter while attending a Greek Orthodox church in Marlborough, Burns said.
At the end of service, the couple received two Easter eggs died red. Later, during lunch in Sudbury, Fran suggested that they eat the eggs so they wouldn't go bad. When she peeled the shell, she found the dye on the egg white shaped in the form of a cross.
The next Sunday, they took the egg from the freezer and brought it to church for the priest to see and he commented that it looked like a sign from God.
"So we left the Catholic church and joined the Orthodox. We thought it was a sign," said Burns.
Burns, who has been making the crucifixes for about eight years, got the idea from a small crucifix that he saw someone wearing.
"I said, 'Gee, I like the idea of a cross of nails' and so I started experimenting with all different kinds of crosses and kept improving on the design. Now, I think I've reached the point I'm happy with the design."
A model of Jesus, also made of nails, sits on top of the cross. The solder is tinted red - on the head below the crown of thorns and on the wrists where nails were pounded into Jesus - to signify his shed blood.
He said it takes about two days to make a single crucifix. He said it's tricky to solder and assemble the pieces and then it has to be polished.
"All the priest seem to like them," he said.
Burns said he "feels guilty about selling" the crucifixes and has only sold one, charging a man $75 "because it's a lot of work."
"I feel it's more of a spiritual thing making them that I get the kick out of it," he said. "It's like going to church. You feel a little closer to God when you're soldering it. You feel like you're doing something."
Orthodox convert ping
Since hey did not leave Christianity but went from one denomination to another faith is not an issue. People saw crossess in the twisted rubble of 9/11 - and we all know they were plain old structural beams.
I just think its strange that an egg made them switch. I mean, going from Catholic to Orthodox is not, theologically speaking, a big jump. But its hard to formally leave the Catholic Church once you're in. You have to really will it, know what I'm saying? There's more to this story than an egg, please God. Here's hoping so, anyway.
You miss the part they they were attending Orthodox Easter services - that does not happen out of the blue - so it seems very logical to assume they were studying the faith and this colored easter egg (a big cultural deal to the Orthodox which has nothing to do with the Easter bunny) was sort of a sign - a tipping point.
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