LENTEN PILGRIMAGE - Gunerius C. Lee

‘Tis well that Christians meet in Lent
A pilgrimage afar to make.
To view again that world event
In which they have so much at stake.
To see the figure of the Lord
Stretched out and nailed through hands and feet—
Then pity flows with one accord
From each sad heart with every beat.

But fierce agony of soul,
The spirit’s strife with death and hell
Which takes from Him the greatest toll
Of strength, of courage, faith and breath,
Is not so easily perceived
And much less fully understood
Yet from that struggle we receive
Our title to eternal good.

‘Tis not enough I bend my knee
And in compassion deeply groan
For Him who died on Calvary
A death that should have been my own.
I must confess with contrite heart
My guilt and clearly see
Had He not carried through His part
What fate had been in store for me!

That He has shed His sacred blood
For one, a sinner vile and base,
Completely lost in sin’s foul flood
To bring me back t God’s embrace,
That thought now brings me pain and shame
How can I look upon Him there
And call upon His holy name
In confident and fervent prayer?

For I, too, slap His holy face
And often probe His bleeding side
And this although I fear God’s grace
May thus be lost or set aside!
Each day, therefore, I need to make
A pilgrimage to view the cross.
To plead with Christ my sins to take
That they no longer death may cause.

So may I sing my Lenten song—
A song of gladness and of praise—
Though sorrow for my sin is strong
Forgiveness will my woe erase,
And sin and earth will then be shorn
Of all their evil powers because
Soon will shine forth the Easter morn
Transfiguration of the cross.

Gunerius C. Lee 1871-1943