Is it not strange, the darkest hour
That ever dawned on sinful earth
Should touch the heart with softer power
For comfort than an angel’s mirth?
That to the Cross the mourner’s eye should turn
Sooner than where the stars of Christmas burn?
[John Keble 1792-1866, The Christian Year, exerpt from the poem “Good Friday”, Public Domain]
This time of year always compells me toward contemplating the wonders of the Cross. This section of Keble’s poem asks the question why we don’t look more to the cross and less to manger and Bethlehem. In my own life I want to do practical things to make the Ressurection day celebration more meaningful. I desire to change the Christmas holiday to become subservient to the real holiday–the demonstration of God’s love and Jesus’ unabashed obedience. Christmas is empty without the Cross. Christmas is a curse without the Cross. Christmas is everything its critics claim it to be without the Cross.
O, for such excitement over Resurrection Day! Shall I give gifts? Send cards? Get up early with my children and run to the empty “grave”? Will I unwrap the brightly colored gifts You leave scattered all around by the power of Your Holy Spirit?
Lord give us wisdom, capture our imaginations, allow us to see past the beginning to the power of the Advent, the resurrection of the only begotten Son of God.
TheNarrowRoadPursued 