In the center of the High Altar, under the Good Shepherd Window, is the Cross, highlighted in its own niche. This is the foundation and symbol of our faith. It, too, is an instrument of torture, perhaps the worst of all: public, degrading, and painfully slow.                                                       

Unlike Catholics, Protestants choose the Cross over the Crucifixion. The Crucifixion commemorates Christ’s agony and death, the passion of Good Friday. But the simple Cross says so much more: It does not mourn his death but celebrates his resurrection.

Just like the Tomb, the Cross is empty. Christ has risen on Easter Day, above the suffering of incarnation, and he sits forever at the right hand of God. We await his return in glory. And just so, we recite the Nicene Creed.    

Return to the sanctuary one evening, after all services are completed. The lights of the nave will be off save one. The niche of the Cross is always illuminated: “And again Jesus spoke to them, saying. ‘I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life’ ” (John 8:12).