Memoria: The Old Rugged Cross

The latest post transferred from my Memoria blog remembers not only my grandpa (again!) but a song...

I love hymns. They may be old-fashioned but hymns remind me of my childhood, my grandparents and the small churches I grew up in. And now, the spiritual content of these songs resonates with me and I appreciate them in a new way. One of those hymns is “The Old Rugged Cross.” Along with “He Could Have Called Ten Thousand Angels,” this song is forever in my heart and mind associated with my grandfather.

The small Free Will Baptist churches in which I grew up had, what I know now, a very rural feel to them. They were churches planted by many of the Oklahoma and Texas transplants who came out to California beginning in the 30's during the Dust Bowl. If you’ve ever been in a small country church, you will have experienced the time during the service when someone sings a “special.” Well, this is one of the songs my grandpa used to sing during that time. He didn’t have the best voice, although he carried a tune better than some of the people I remember! There was a love in his voice though, for the Lord, for singing, for the song. What I wouldn’t give for a recording of my grandpa singing this.

As I grew up and moved on to bigger churches, I always cried when “The Old Rugged Cross” was sung. My grandparents had moved back to Oklahoma and hearing that song always filled me with longing for them. They were a huge part of my life and when they moved, it was one of the bigger changes in my life. The song doesn't evoke the same longing it once did, but it still causes me to remember. Years later, I am able to enjoy a new take on the song, a new arrangement on one of our church’s worship CDs. It brings the song into the present musically while still embracing the lyrics written by George Bennard almost 100 years ago.

The Old Rugged Cross

On a hill far away stood an old rugged cross,
the emblem of suffering and shame;
and I love that old cross where the dearest and best
for a world of lost sinners was slain.

So I'll cherish the old rugged cross,
till my trophies at last I lay down;
I will cling to the old rugged cross,
and exchange it some day for a crown.

O that old rugged cross, so despised by the world,
has a wondrous attraction for me;
for the dear Lamb of God left his glory above
to bear it to dark Calvary.

So I'll cherish the old rugged cross,
till my trophies at last I lay down;
I will cling to the old rugged cross,
and exchange it some day for a crown.

In that old rugged cross, stained with so divine,
a wondrous beauty I see,
for 'twas on that old cross Jesus suffered and died,
to pardon and sanctify me.

So I'll cherish the old rugged cross,
till my trophies at last I lay down;
I will cling to the old rugged cross,
and exchange it some day for a crown.

To that old rugged cross I will ever be true,
its shame and reproach gladly bear;
then he'll call me some day to my home far away,
where his glory forever I'll share.

So I'll cherish the old rugged cross,
till my trophies at last I lay down;
I will cling to the old rugged cross,
and exchange it some day for a crown.