One of my favorite things to do is go to a beautiful church and pray. If Shann and I are together and we are the only ones in the church, we will sing together. I love the house of the Lord, especially when it is full of beauty, light, and radiance. I love to look at the cross. Some are plain, some contain the suffering body of Christ, some show the resurrected Christ released from nails with arms uplifted.

I consider how an emblem of such suffering, public shame, violence, and spectacle can become a universal symbol of good news. My dad loved the cross and hummed many tunes but one of his favorites was a hymn called, “The Old Rugged Cross.” He often sang over and over, “I will cherish the old rugged cross.” My favorite hymn about the cross was from Isaac Watts who wrote over 450 hymns in his lifetime. Just scrolling down the list online is impressive. His song, “When I Survey the Wonderous Cross,” is one of the songs Shann and I sing together when we are alone in a beautiful church.

My favorite part of the song says, 

“Were the whole realm of nature mine,
that were a present far too small.
Love so amazing, so divine,
demands my soul, my life, my all.” 

What a perfect explanation of the cost of love! How easy it is to be stingy in the reservation of love, reserving it only for the easy people in my life. The cross reminds me that love demands my whole self. Loving friends, yes, but also loving enemies. Loving dearly, deeply, truly, fully from my whole soul, life, and all!

“Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” – Ephesians 5:1-2