Local resident, Dan Rigler, can be seen carrying a twelve-foot cross down Highway 40 this afternoon.

Dan Rigler has taken this cross, which can be folded up into a suitcase, to Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and London, England. 

Rigler has gotten a lot of reactions from people when carrying the cross. 

He comments, “It’s hard not to notice, it’s twelve feet, so people definitely take notice of it. One of the biggest comments we’ve had is ‘Jesus never had a wheel,’ because I do put a wheel on this one.  But it opens up dialogue with them because, you know, one, I’m not Jesus and the Bible says take up your cross daily, but it’s heavy, it’s hard and all that stuff, but it also says he is with us. I can choose to try and carry this by myself or I can have a wheel as a reminder that Jesus is with us to make it easier.”

Carrying the cross has had a great personal impact on Rigler: "The first time I carried it through the Trans-Canada Highway, I started complaining about how hard this was and it hit me – this is a bit of a reflection of what Jesus went through, it’s not even close, but on a personal level it really hit me with that.”

He appreciates the positive reaction it has had on others as well.

“Probably my favourite was a homeless person that I met in England. He started out with the ‘Jesus never had a wheel,’ but then I let him carry it and the whole time he just kept on repeating: ‘He did this for us, he did this for me.’ It’s a very personal thing – Jesus did this for each one of us.”

Dan Rigler headed out this afternoon to pray for the City of Grande Prairie and it's residents.