The Manger And The Cross
On a hill there is a cross
Made of wood and stained with blood.
In it's shadow sits a manger
Also wooden and filled with hay.
An odd combination
For a wayward stranger to find.
"What do you have in common?"
"What treasures do you boast?"
"What atrocities do you hide?"
The manger speaks first
Meek and very mild.
"I cradled a King," he boasts.
"When he was just a child."
The manger grows bolder
His voice filled with pride.
"Shepherds knelt and worshiped Him."
"Right here by my side."
Then the manager sings a sweet song
A glorious and ancient rhyme.
"What is that you sing?"
The stranger asks in time.
The manger thinks and then replies,
"It was the song the angles sang."
"It was heard by the shepherds."
"That is why they came."
The wayward stranger glances
At the manger then he sighs.
"That's quite a story."
"It is difficult to believe."
The stranger lifts his eyes up
To one that had not spoke.
"Tell me one better, Cross."
"I don't think you can."
For a while the cross was silent.
The stranger began to smirk.
"I knew you had nothing to say."
"You're just a place for a thief to hang."
The stranger began to walk away
To continue his journey that day.
But the cross soon spoke
And the earth began to quake.
"I did not cradle a king."
"And over me angels never sang."
"But the wee babe in the manger's story soon man became."
"He preached of love and light."
"He was soon arrested and condemned for what He taught ."
"His name was Jesus and on me did He hang"
"And the blood He shed, on me left its stain."
The cross said nothing more.
The stranger looked at the pair.
"So that's the end of the story?"
The stranger uttered in reply.
"The king you held, He was just born to die?"
The stranger shook his head.
He could not comprehend.
Then something tapped his shoulder
And the stranger turned around.
He saw a man standing
Nail prints in his feet and hands.
A kind voice spoke, words of love and grace.
"I did not die. I came back from the dead."
The stranger looked at Jesus.
He was no longer lost.
You see, on that day a wayward stranger was found
At the manger and the cross.
