I’m at a meeting at a church in another town yesterday. At an appropriate break time, I find the nearest men’s room. Being a pastor, I am curious about most aspects of other church facilities, so I “investigated” the layout of this restroom. For the age of the building, it was spacious. Very well laid out. Then I noticed, on the wall behind the sink area, this image.
Why does a men’s rest room in a United Methodist Church have a framed picture of a gorilla in it? Which committee do you suppose decided this?
Yes, even more curious than I was before, we checked the women’s restroom. It was adorned with a picture of flowers.
Bandits No More 
You just know that some leading family donated the “artwork” to the church. Couldn’t sell it at the next fundraiser..didn’t want to upset the donors…so put it in a place where it can do the least dammage. (and who knows..if it were by somebody like Jane Goodall it might actually be worth something.)
Don’t complain. Where does a 400-pound gorilla poop? Anywhere he wants to.
flowers = feminine
_______ = masculine
apparently the answer is “gorilla in the bush”
Maybe someone just has a sense of humor. Or… maybe someone put it up as an experiment to see how long it would take for someone to comment.
OUr church newsletter used to have a bible verse on its masthead. Though I have my doubts about how many people read the newsletter, I theorized that even fewer ever noticed the masthead. So we changed it to Spanish for a month. It generated zero comments. After a month I pointed it out to some people. They’d never noticed it.
As Associate Pastor of said church I can relay the rest of the story…or the myth within the truth.
Several years ago, yes, a committee asked some of our accomplished artists (members of the church) to paint pictures for the restrooms. The flowers in the women’s restroom were painted by Ruth Burton. She has painted Willie Nelson personal portrait that sits in his museum in his hometown. Jan Smith submitted the gorilla painting to represent the masculine side of the church.
The gorilla has become one of the silent jokes in the church. It was placed there with little fanfare and little notice, although I include it on all tours of the church. I have shared in meditation several times with the “gorilla in the mist.” We are pleased and honored that he has become the object of curiosity, amusement, and speculation.
that has to be the best church artwork ever, it beats flowers or jordan river scenes that look more like tennessee than israel – thanks for sharing
is it because the men’s room generally sounds and smells like a jungle? but then that might mean that the womens room sounds and smells like flowers.. i know that isn’t true!
hey there is a can of lysol on top of the paper towel holder
i wonder what scent?
somehow country fresh does not match the jungle artwork