After leaving the Cadillac Ranch, they were traveling down Route 66 in a very flat part of Texas, there was nothing exciting happening, so one of the kids asked the Leader a question. “Yesterday when we were going past the giant cross in Groom Texas, I saw something else that was kind of freaky. I did not want to interrupt you while you were talking about the giant cross, so I took a picture so I could ask you about it later.” The picture showed a water tower that was leaning! In fact, the water tower looked like it was about to fall over!
The water tower said, ‘Britten USA’ on the side.
The kids asked the Leader why the water tower did not say ‘Groom’ on the side (since it was in Groom, Texas) and why was it leaning?
The Leader did a search on his laptop and found this story about the Leaning Tower of Texas. A man named Ralph Britten wanted to build a truck stop and restaurant in Groom Texas, but he needed something to get people’s attention so that they would stop and buy some food. Mr. Britten came up with the idea of having a leaning water tower, so he bought an old water tower from the town of Lefors, Texas and had it moved about 35 miles to Grooms Texas. The water tower was set up along Route 66 right next to Mr. Britten’s truck stop and restaurant. Mr. Britten made it lean ‘on purpose’! He used a bulldozer to raise two of the legs of the tower off the ground, and partially filled the water tower so that it balanced in that position, then secured it so that it would stay in that position.
Mr. Britten had his last name painted on the side of the water tower. It was a great success! Everyday people would see the Leaning Water Tower and they would stop and run inside the restaurant and scream, ‘The water tower is about to fall over!’ Mr. Britten would just laugh and tell the people that the tower was leaning on purpose, then the people would stay and have something to eat. The Leaning Water Tower helped Mr. Britten’s truck stop and restaurant do good business for many years, but then there was a fire! The truck stop, and restaurant burned to the ground, and they were never rebuilt, but the Leaning Water Tower of Texas is still there!
The Leader told the kids that this reminded him of a story about another tower that leans. He did a quick search on his laptop and then showed the kids a picture of the Leaning Tower of Pisa!
This tower is in the city of Pisa Italy! It is the bell tower for the Church in that city. The Leaning Tower is almost 950 years old! They started to build it in year 1173 and they finished it 199 years later in 1372! It is 183 feet tall and made of stone and marble. It took so long to finish the tower because they had to quit working on it for many years because of several wars, and they also had a problem: the tower started to lean! That is right; the tower started to lean in 1178, just 5 years after they started to build it. Two things caused it to lean: the foundation of the tower was not big enough, and the soil under one side of the tower was softer than the soil under the other side of the tower. They were building the 2nd floor of the tower when it started to lean. Most people would have stopped building the tower because it would eventually fall over, but for some reason the people in Pisa kept building for another 194 years until the tower was 7 stories tall plus a bell chamber on top of the 7th floor! The bell chamber eventually had 7 heavy bells in it, at the very top of the tower!
Ever since the Leaning Tower of Pisa was finished, people wondered how long it would be before the tower fell over. It was not until 1990 that the tower became dangerous! At that time the tower was closed to the public and all the apartment buildings close to the tower were emptied because it appeared that the tower was about to fall. People did not want the tower to fall, so between 1993 and 2001 a lot of work was done on the tower. They removed a lot of the dirt from under the high side of the tower so that it did not lean as much. They made the Leaning Tower of Pisa safe again, but it still leans. The tower reopened to the public in 2001 and they believe the tower will stand for about 300 more years!
The Leader told the kids that the Leaning Tower of Pisa reminds him of something that Jesus taught people while He was on earth.
In Matthew 7:24-27 Jesus says:
“Anyone who listens to my teaching and follows it is wise, like a person who builds a house on solid rock. Though the rain comes in torrents and the floodwaters rise and the winds beat against that house, it won’t collapse because it is built on bedrock. But anyone who hears my teaching and doesn’t obey it is foolish, like a person who builds a house on sand. When the rains and floods, come and the winds beat against that house, it will collapse with a mighty crash.”
The Leader told the kids that they need to do more than just learn about God! The things that they have been learning about God on this trip on Route 66 are great, but if they do not put it into practice and obey the teaching, then their life will be like the Leaning Tower of Pisa; sooner or later it will collapse and fall. It might not happen right away, but it will happen!
If you try to have anything else be the foundation of your life, it can change in an instant!
- If sports are the foundation of your life…an injury can cause your foundation to collapse in a moment
- If popularity is the foundation of your life…one rumor about you can cause your foundation to collapse in a moment
- If money is the foundation of your life…in a moment you can lose your money
- If your friends are the foundation of your life…your foundation will collapse when your friends disappoint you
The only way to have a solid life is to have Jesus as the foundation of your life!
- Believe that Jesus is the Son of God who came to earth in human form to live a perfect life and die on the cross to pay for your sins.
- Go to God in prayer and tell Him that you believe in Him and want to live for Him and ask to have your sins forgiven (this is how you become a Christian).
- Learn how God wants you to live this life as a Christian, you learn by reading your Bible, prayer, and attending a good Church where the Word of God (the Bible) is taught.
- Put the learning into practice, obey the teaching of the Word of God!