I don't mind if you've got something nice to say about me
And I enjoy an accolade like the rest
You could take my picture and hang it in a gallery
Of all who's who and so-n-so's that used to be the best
At such'n'such ... it wouldn't matter much
I won't lie, it feels alright to see your name in lights
We all need an 'Atta boy' or 'Atta girl'
But in the end I'd like to hang my hat on more besides
The temporary trappings of this world
I want to leave a legacy
How will they remember me?
Did I choose to love? Did I point to You enough
To make a mark on things?
I want to leave an offering
A child of mercy and grace who
blessed your name unapologetically
And leave that kind of legacy
I don't have to look too far or too long awhile
To make a lengthly list of all that I enjoy
It's an accumulating trinket and a treasure pile
Where moth and rust, thieves and such will soon enough destroy
Not well traveled, not well read, not well-to-do or well bred
Just want to hear instead, "Well Done" good and faithful one...
chanced upon this magazine while in my sis' room. its title is the BRIEFING, and the theme of that issue is: The Cross Still Stands. well, flipping the next page of the mag, i guessed is by the editor, was the article, "The gallows round my neck". upon reading it, i decided to add it here. it has been a misconception of many ppl, Christian, non-Christian alike as to why they wear a cross on their neck. well, i guess most answers will be, "it looks cool!" and "well, it identifies Christian as a Christian"(but then, many non-Christian wears a cross as an accessory too). hmm... but isnt that suppose to be by our conduct, our Christlikeness that identifies us, that separates us from other people, not that pendant? i remembered that was a time that i dun DARE to wear the cross coz i felt i just isnt living up to my Saviour's name. im like..hmm... tarnished His name. but now, i do wear a cross. it is to remind me that i am a Christian and it is not i who live BUT CHRIST who lives in me...
I can still remember the caustic comment of one of my high school teachers, 25 years later. "Why would you want to wear that? Isn't it like having a miniature gallows on a chain around your neck?"
HE was pointing at the cross that I'd taken to wearing. Why, his sceptical eyes were asking me, would a bright young man with his life before him hang a ghoulish symbol of execution around his neck?
"Because in becoming a Christian I have died, and my life is now hidden with Christ in Good. It's no longer I that live, but following in his footsteps, I expect my daily life to include hardship and suffering, because such is the fate of everyone in this world who chooses to follow the Crucified One. And so what better thing to label myself with than the sign of the cross."
That's what I wished I'd said. Instead , i gave a silly grin and shrugged, and said the first thing that came into my head, "Because it's cool", thereby demonstrating that my non-Christian teacher understood more about the cross than I did at the time.
It is a ghastly symbol, an image of weakness, suffering, horror and shame. That's why it's such a apt symbol of the scandalous message of Christianity,a message that is folly to the 'wise' amd unacceptable to religious trumphalists.
