Take up your cross

In home teams last week we talked about what it means to actually take up your cross daily and follow Christ. We talked about the fact that the cross was an execution device and a symbol of pain, punishment and public scorn. I have been thinking about that and meditating on how that fits in with some suffering I have been going through lately. The following song expresses my feelings on the subject better than any other I have heard.

All alone in an evil dream I see myself up high
And it's me, only you, with my arms spread open wide.
I try to run from the place I know that I can be set free.
"Come away. Come away."
There's a sweet voice calling me
To the Killing Tree.

I look around at all the faces who are passing me.
And I run, try to run with nails in my feet.
All the time I was building castles on the sandy beach,
Leading you, leading you to a place I'd never been,
To the Killing Tree.

I know what you're asking me and I don't wanna give.
Cause it's safe, and I know cause I've been here all these years.
All the precious pain I hold, without it there is fear.
And I'm afraid when you say that you'll get me out of here
To the Killing Tree.

So now I run to you and I move from night to day.
For to live I must die and there's still no other way.
I see you in an evil dream, you took my place up high.
Now it's you, only me, with your arms spread open wide
On the Killing Tree.

Come away to a place of healing
To the Killing Tree