On the Cross of Calvary

Outside Jerusalem upon a hill of Calvary

Three cross beams are seen in the morning fog
Bearing three men accused, sentenced, incarcerated, now hanging.
It is the end of life, the beginning of eternity.

Images, thoughts, actions of each are carried down the narrow city streets;
Imprinted on citizens, soldiers and us.
Reflections, through numerous centuries since
Upon which to ponder, to pray, to teach, to take action.

Prisoner #1: incorrigible, condemned by law-abiding men;
Is he another Job, whose days seem to end without hope?
His face is stretched tight by years of anger, resentment;
His body, combed with lines like the age rings of a tree.

Within his center of self he is alone, thinks alone, sees no one here.
The absence of light, of love, does not disturb him.
Evil, the force of Satan, controls both body and soul;
Regret, repentance, reconciliation have passed him by; all is lost.

The center instrument of torture and death
Holds a once handsome man with a sturdy frame.
Strength remains in his knotty limbs;
Arms stretch outward as once did the arms of His Heavenly Father
Performing mighty deeds for wandering Israelites.

Like a mighty oak, He projects a mystical serenity
As tears silently fall down his darken façade;
Tears, not for himself but for others-
Those standing beneath the beams, those yet uncreated.
This is Christ.

A third man is affixed to a similar beam;
He is of average height, average weight, average breadth of body.
He is everyone taking on the form of all, but with one difference;
Light has penetrated his body, breaking through to his core, his heart, his soul.

Faintly at first, light expands with beams of truth, of love, of hope, of freedom.
As a Christian, now he has chosen life, light, over darkness and evil.
Finally, he can respond with unwavering faith,
“Jesus, remember me when You come into Your kingdom."