Easter crosses

The art installation with its 3 themes Grace, Generosity and Gratitude required some quotes where people with impactful testimony referenced these particular themes.  Kate asked me, with others, whether we could think of anyone.  I had recently been re-reading the so-called spiritual autobiography of E. Stanley Jones titled A Song of Ascents. He is one of my heroes.  Kate liked the quote which she agreed did justice to the theme of Gratitude but she didn't know who he was (and she would be in the majority). So she asked me to give a brief summary.

E. Stanley Jones (1884-1973) was utterly transformed by meeting Jesus when he was 17 years old. He surrendered his gifts .as an extraordinary thinker, imaginative writer and, passionate speaker to serve Jesus, becoming a world-famous Methodist missionary to India. A friend of Ghandi, he had remarkable influence in India and as an evangelist impacted thousands across 6 continents. In his spiritual autobiography A Song of Ascents he tells about how Jesus became his everything The quote below comes from his book and captures the sheer wonder on his knees before Jesus and the difference it made to him and the world.

The actual quote which I offered bubbles with wonder at his conversion.  Its a good testimony about gratitude. The idea as visitors walk past all the flowers to meditate at the crosses they will have an opportunity to sense how others experienced Jesus' death for them. 

How did this happen to me? I felt so undeserving and so unworthy and...yet the wonder has turned into a life wonder. I gaze at him and wonder and wonder until my knees bend in gratitude. But I'm soon up on my feet again with a divine compulsion to share this with everyone, everywhere.

Apparently the installation has now been put in place so tomorrow (Sunday) we shall see how the vision has developed!  Some of it sounds ambitious like the provision of QR codes for visitors to view background details to the quotes, like the E. Stanley Jones stuff above.  I'll let you know how the project  is working out, though it really needs prayer and openness these next days leading up to Easter.