Have we dared look upon the cross
With eye undimmed and keen,
And hung our head in shame at what
The cruelty of man has wrought
Or have we raised our eyes and sought
What there the eye of God has seen?
The wisdom of the world is there—
A crown upon a skull;
All threats to power must be met,
Against them greater power set
‘Til by the sword we shall beget
A granary of death filled full.
The strength of all our human sin
Has drunk the ocean dry
And sponged away the distant line
‘Twixt earth and heaven; so opine
We now the world where cannot shine
Upon us the celestial eye.
What would that divine orb now see…
There at that foolish cross?
A son forsaken—all alone?
A sword to cleave earth’s flesh from bone?
The Word that could alone atone
For all offense and loss?
The perishing go down to dust
Unwilling to perceive
The wisdom in its foolishness,
God’s strength revealed in the weakness
He there embraced our race to bless
So we might life receive.
Lord, make us ever see thy love
In that unlovely cross
That we might seek no earthly sign
Beyond the pow’r of its design
And find in it the pow’r divine
That burns away our dross.