A Quote for Good Friday

Quoted in John Stott's The Cross of Christ (page 50), Malcolm Muggeridge, a lifelong socialist, speaks of the cross:

"I would catch a glimpse of a cross--not necessarily a crucifix; maybe two pieces of wood accidentally nailed together, on a telegraph pole, for instance--and suddenly my heart would stand still. In an instinctive, intuitive way I understood that something more important, more tumultuous, more passionate was at issue than our good causes, however admirable they might be...

"It was, I know an obsessive interest...I might fasten bits of wood together myself, or doodle it. This symbol, which was considered to be derisory in my home, was yet also the focus of inconceivable hopes and desires...

"As I remember this, a sense of my own failure lies upon me. I should have worn it over my heart; carried it, a precious standard, never to be wrestled out of my hands; even though I fell, still born aloft. It should have been my cult, my uniform, my language, my life. I shall have no excuse; I can't say I didn't know. I knew it from the beginning and turned away."

Mr. Muggeridge turned back to Christ soon after.