It is not easy for me to slow down, to pause and really think about what Jesus went through on my behalf. It is hard. It can be painful – to focus on pausing, on really taking in what Jesus went through—for me and for you.
Here is a hymn, a meditation, that brings me there, to the foot of the cross. It shines a mirror on my sin; then on the incredible love and sacrifice of my Lord and Savior.
O sacred Head, now wounded, with grief and shame weighed down,
Now scornfully surrounded with thorns, your only crown:
How pale you are with anguish, with sore abuse and scorn!
How does that visage languish which once was bright as morn!
What you, O Lord, have suffered was all for sinner’s gain;
Mine, mine was the transgression, but yours the deadly pain.
Lo, here I fall, my Savior! ‘Tis I deserve your place;
Look on me with your favor, vouchsafe to me your grace.
What language shall I borrow to thank you, dearest friend,
For this your dying sorrow, your pity without end?
O make me yours forever; and should I fainting be,
Lord, let me never, never outlive my love for thee.
Bernard of Clairvaux
– Carol Dieball