The Southern California fire fighters that were near to this cross, as it was engulfed by flames, felt sure that it was gone. Gene Blevins, a photographer, returned to the scene the next day to get some more shots. He was surprised and amazed to find that the cross was not incinerated; it was not even scorched by the heat.
Some would say: “Big deal, this often happens in a fire. One building is destroyed and the one next to it escapes damage.” True, but this cross was right in the middle of a conflagration and surrounded on all sides. Nevertheless, those who are so inclined can explain this away as a coincidence that has no special meaning. For those, however, who choose to believe, this kind of phenomenon can have deep symbolic and theological significance.
Around the middle of the 19th century, it is reported that Sir John Bowring was involved in a ship wreck. He was able to cling to some drift wood and the currents carried him to an island. As the fog lifted, he saw a cross standing on a mountain, keeping watch over the bay where he was swept ashore. Reflecting on this, sometime after his rescue, these words came to mind which have found their way into our church hymnals: “In the cross of Christ I glory, towering o’er the wrecks of time; all the light of sacred story gathers round its head sublime.”
The Bible tells us that in the eternal plan of God, Christ was crucified before the foundations of the world. Some of us believe that long after those foundations are shaken to their core, the cross will still be standing over the wrecks of time.
Many of us believe that the cross is history’s clearest revelation of a love which survives the worst that man can do and keeps on loving.
No comments:
Post a Comment