Easter

“He is not here; He is risen.”

Cruci-fix

A springtime day; a windy hill:
A man had come to die.
Torture done, the crowd grew still:
He breathed out one last sigh.

Prince of life; Creator-Son–
Died on Calv’ry’s tree:
Lord of all creation,
Crucified for me!

Then all the shadowed sway of earth
Groaned aloud in pain–
That God, who came in humble birth,
Had died for mankind’s gain.

Prince of life; Creator-Son–
Died on Calv’ry’s tree:
Lord of all creation,
Crucified for me!

But as the heav’ns in darkness raged
And oceans foamed and roared,
Christ, the Son, would not be caged,
So, from death’s prison soared.

Prince of Life; Creator-Son:
Victorious, the battle’s won.

©1993 David W. Needham

And yes, I know it was not for me alone, but given the parable of the shepherd and the lost sheep, were I alone in need, He’d have done the same.

Now, THAT is but one of many critical differences between Christianity and another religion that shall go unnamed.

The graphic at the head of this post was drawn by a volunteer artist for use on the cover of the program for an Easter musical production I directed/produced 14 years ago. Joe used his own hand and one of the railroad spikes I had acquired as props (or as parts to create props) for the production to model for the drawing. And yes, it does look like some fingers are broken and the thumb dislocated. I think that was intentional…