The cross is like a message
It's hard to walk beside Olivier without seeing the cross! 4 meters long with a weight of 24 kilos… And a bicycle wheel to help carry this heavy gospel mass at a speed of 3 kilometers per hour. He wrote on the cross, vertical: “I am the way, the truth, the life. Jesus" and the horizontal line is "I give you a new heart". He describes himself as a "pilgrim through the mountains," and plans to travel 20 kilometers a day.
He thinks his initiative will be seen by everyone, denouncing God's disappearance as man-made: “He is not invited in our society, in our stories, nor in our lives. our daily lives”. So this artist, poet, sculptor set out. He's not afraid to put God in public, especially where people don't want to see God the most!
God's Word and His Story in the Bowl
This tall cross is here to question, to create a meeting on the sidewalk, on the roadside. Olivier Taramarcaz, the idealistic, messy-haired artist brings his treasure to talk to people interested in his work. John's Gospel and the New Testament in dozens of different languages in addition to his small bag.
When they saw him passing, some people shook their heads, but there were also people who stopped, discussed with him and thanked him. The words “love”, “peace” and “freedom” are written in many languages on his cross. “I wanted to show the universal value of the Gospel,” he explained.
“I don't tempt,” he said. The cross itself is a symbol that speaks for itself. Everyone makes their own path.” He found the exchanges spontaneous and short.
He also has his personal notebook, his life story and his comeback. With poetic style, he interprets Saint Paul's metaphor in his letter to the Romans (11:24), "If you, being a branch of a wild olive tree, were cut down and grafted onto an olive tree-- good olives, unnaturally, how much more can they, who are branches of the main olive tree, be grafted onto the old tree,” summarizing his life. Olivier (his name) was formerly wild, or the wild olive tree yielded nothing more than small unpressed grapes… “I, formerly proud of my small fruits, I did not produce. get what. So I must graft into the Tree of Life. So my life was changed.”
On the day of his departure, he enjoyed this pilgrimage: “There is no substitute for the joy of walking humbly with the Good Shepherd, Who gave me His Life. He illuminated me with the warmth of His gaze. I rejoice with this experience in the blessed Valais of my homeland.”
Two years ago, Brother Olivier traveled across Switzerland with his cross. On the way, people “give me food and shelter” but sometimes he also has to sleep in tents. He said he did not pray any more in his life.