A meditation on the Cross

I imagine they made it of living wood; 
the tree itself shared your fate,
cut down in service of hateful violence,
its beauty overlooked, its sacrifice, 
turning our exhaust into air, sweet bitterness 
of fruit and pollen, its praise of heaven, 
limbs raised high, razed to the ground 
with you. They did not see 
or understand that its roots 
already harrowed earth 
so that from its demise 
a thousand creatures might arise, 
give thanks to their Creator 
for the tree of life.


This meditation also appears at the Episcopal Journal

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About Rosalind C Hughes

Rosalind C Hughes is an Episcopal priest, poet, and author living near the shores of Lake Erie. After growing up in England and Wales, and living briefly in Singapore, she is now settled in Ohio. Rosalind is the author of A Family Like Mine: Biblical Stories of Love, Loss, and Longing , and Whom Shall I Fear? Urgent Questions for Christians in an Age of Violence, both from Upper Room Books. She loves the lake, misses the ocean, and is finally coming to terms with snow.
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