"It is sweet to know as I onward go, the way of the cross leads home."

Hymn: “The Way of the Cross Leads Home” – Jessie B. Pounds (1861-1921)
Tune: WAY OF THE CROSS

I realize that the intention of this hymn-text is to emphasize that to in order to arrive at Heaven’s home, one must walk the “blood-sprinkled way.” It was obviously her intention as she wrote these words, but I often think of it differently when I sing the refrain to myself.

In music, songs have a tonic note -- a home note – to which the ear finds stability. In baseball, there’s a home plate which completes a victorious run after a good ‘at bat’. Of course, there’s that place you grew up – the house, the town, the culture – which signifies to most of us a certain security or at least familiarity.

While I agree that the way of Christ’s cross-laden journey is the one which will ultimately gain my entrance into an eternal home, as someone on an earthly pilgrimage, my constant awareness of the cross with all its redemptive implications keeps me centered, stabilized, victorious and secure – in THIS life. And there’s a sweetness to knowing that.

On my prodigal days, I want to find home. When I’m adrift on uncertain waters, I want to find home. Wandering after having lost my way, I want to find home.

My daddy drove a Trailways bus when I was young. One of his regular routes was carrying groups from east Tennessee to visit the nation’s capital. When I was about nine years old, he took mama and me to Washington to show us all the sights he had shown to strangers over the years. I remember his telling me, “If you ever get lost in D. C., look up and find the Washington Monument. When you get there, you can start all over and find your way again.”

When I lose my way, I just have to look up and find the cross. When I get back there, I can start all over because for ME, the cross is home.

Hear a very spirited congregational singing of two stanzas of this hymn!