The Old Rugged Cross

I can remember singing this hymn when I was younger It has more meaning for me the older I get I read this story in my email this morning and it really touched my heart I can only hope that I'm as passionate as the man in this story and I would love to see this cross in Connecticut!



The Old Rugged Cross
by John Fischer



On a hill far away stood an old rugged cross
The emblem of suffering and shame.
- George Bennard


There is a church in Old Greenwich, Connecticut, that has a cross in it, not behind the pulpit or up on the wall somewhere, but bolted down into the ground — a fifteen foot wooden cross that stands in front of the platform so that it is situated between the people and the pastor. When you stand up behind the podium to speak, the horizontal crossbar is three feet in front of your nose. When I closed my eyes to sleep on the night I spoke there, the cross was somehow stamped on my eyelids, much like you feel a hat on your head, long after you have removed it.


The picture in my mind was so indelible it inspired me to write a book ten years ago entitled On A Hill Too Far Away, about a trend I was observing in Christianity as a movement away from emphasizing the cross. Instead of sinners, we’re dysfunctional; instead of forgiveness, we need counseling; instead of the cross, we need a hot worship band. Somehow that big wooden cross smack in the middle of the church said it all, and I found the metaphor rich enough to yield a book’s worth of reflection. Six years later Randy Vader turned the book’s inspiration into an Easter musical by the same title.


All of this is leading to something. Today, I want you to meet someone very special.


Earlier this week I had the privilege of having lunch and some wonderful fellowship with a local choir director whose choir performed the musical just two weeks ago on Good Friday. I actually requested this lunch when I found out that this man, along with another church member, had traveled back to Connecticut from southern California to see first hand that church he had read about with the unforgettable cross in it


“I had to go,” he told me. “This thing had God all over it.”


Here’s a guy who doesn’t do anything halfway. For some reason he could not fully explain, he had to complete the circle. He took his leadership of the choir and this particular musical that seriously.


He sat across the table from me and told me all this, including some amazing details of how God met them on their trip. All the while, his book, with yellow post-it stickers bulging out of it, lay on the table, handled lovingly and cherished by a man who had found new discoveries of grace as the result of his unusual pilgrimage.


I remember a few times while writing this book, I wondered if I might be taking this cross thing a little too far, or making too much of the cross in that Connecticut church. Marvin didn’t think so. Nor do I, now.


Earlier this year, Marvin celebrated his eighty-fifth birthday. I can only pray I have his passion, energy and love for God should I live to be his age.



John Fischer is the Senior Writer for Purpose Driven Life Daily Devotionals. He resides in Southern California with his wife, Marti and son, Chandler. They also have two adult children, Christopher and Anne. John is a published author and popular speaker.