The horror hope factor

I all know about crosses. I see them everywhere and they have completely lost their horror factor for me. I see glamorous people who aren't even particularly christian wearing them in gold, silver,or even plastic. The cross may not make much of an impact on me, but on Monday evening during StoryLine I held something horrific. I held three nails in my hand. They were massive. They were used in roman crucifixion. They weren't round like big carpentry nails. They were square and specially designed to cause maximum pain. On each nail head I saw impact marks where hammer blows had driven the nail through skin, muscle, nerve, bone, muscle, skin and into wood. Contemplating the sequence which would be repeated three times with that nail in my hand was horrific. This wasn't any romantic oil painting. This was up close and personal. For a brief moment I forgot cameras and studio guest - it was just me, the nails and the One who chose the horror to give me hope...