Thursday: in the cross

Well, it’s Thursday already. 

It’s been a morning of running errands that were postponed until the end of Holy Week and of trying to make inroads into the 109 hours that still remain for the learner driver in the house. I am aware of the unread mails and messages lurking behind this (once) almost blank screen and of the rumbling in my belly that says it’s nearly time to do something about lunch. 

How quickly life returns to normal; shifts from the sacred back into the ordinary. And how hard it is to hold on to the passion of Easter and the Good News message of God’s great love for the world when there are practical things that need to be done. 

So … the song I’d like to share with you today is one that I grew up singing in church on Sundays. Even though it’s from the Methodist Hymn Book (number 199), I call it a song because the version below is not at all “hymny” and I love it! 

In our busyness, 
in our dailyness,
in our brokenness,
may Christ keep us close to the cross.

***

Jesus, keep me near the Cross;
There a precious fountain,
Free to all, a healing stream,
Flows from Calvary’s mountain.

In the Cross, in the Cross,
Be my glory ever; 
Till my raptured soul shall find
Rest beyond the river.

Near the Cross, a trembling soul,
Love and mercy found me;
There the bright and morning star
Shed its beams around me.

In the Cross, in the Cross,
Be my glory ever;
Till my raptured soul shall find
Rest beyond the river.

Near the Cross, O Lamb of God,
Bring its scenes before me;
Help me walk from day to day,
With its shadow oe’r me.

In the Cross, in the Cross,
Be my glory ever;
Till my raptured soul shall find
Rest beyond the river.

Near the Cross I’ll watch and wait,
Hoping, trusting ever,
Till I reach the golden strand,
Just beyond the river.

In the Cross, in the Cross,
Be my glory ever;
Till my raptured soul shall find
Rest beyond the river.Methodist Hymn Book 199 – Frances Jane van Alstyne