"The Legend of the Dogwood"

In Jesus time, the dogwood grew To a stately size and a lovely hue. 'Twas strong & firm it's branches interwoven For the cross of Christ its timbers were chosen. Seeing the distress at this use of their wood Christ made a promise which still holds good: "Never again shall the dogwood grow Large enough to be used so Slender & twisted, it shall be With blossoms like the cross for all to see. As blood stains the petals marked in brown The blossom's center wears a thorny crown. All who see it will remember me Crucified on a cross from the dogwood tree. Cherished and protected this tree shall be A reminder to all of my agony." ~Author unknown~

"The Old, Old, Legend Of The Dogwood"

Two thousand years ago, few trees in the Middle East were  not big enough to construct anything.  However, one tree was valued above the others for its thick trunk and fine, strong wood. When the Romans came to rule over Jerusalem, their government used this same timber to build the crosses for executing criminals. A group of workers were assigned to gather wood for the crosses. Before long, every Roman official knew the best wood came from these gatherers of execution wood, so those workers became popular. One day, the wood gatherers received a special request. An officer of the Roman court came and  said, "The King of Jews is to be put to death. Deliver an extra-large cross made from your finest wood." So, a fresh tree was cut from the forest of the trees with thick trunks and fine, strong wood.  An extra-tall (and extra-heavy) cross was quickly made and delivered. Three days after the death of Jesus of Nazareth, the chief wood gatherer got alarming news. "All of our finest trees are withering!" the messenger whispered. The wood gatherer hurried to the forest and saw that it was true. Several years later, the chief wood gatherer heard that,  every spring, many people visited the old forest that  had once made his job so easy. Despite his advancing years,  he set out to discover why. He saw the remains of forest, now like salty bottoms, with only a few trees still standing tall, baked, lifeless and rotting.       But what was this? As he drew closer, his feeble eyes could make out the people walking among  thousands of beautiful, flowering bushes. Seeing one of his own workers there, the old man said,  "No one could ever make a cross out of this twisted wood. Our finest tree has gone to the dogs!" He noticed the beautiful white flowers, each blossom looking as if it had been burned from the touch of a miniature cross. So...an old and beautiful legend has it that, at the time of the crucifixion, the dogwood was comparable in size to the oak tree and other monarchs of the forest. Because of itsfirmness and strength it was selected as the timber for the cross, but to be put to such a cruel use greatly distressed the tree. Sensing this, the crucified Jesus in his gentle pity for the sorrow and suffering of all said to it: "Because of your sorrow and pity for My sufferings, never again will the dogwood tree grow large enough to be used as a gibbet. Henceforth it will be slender, bent and twisted and its blossoms will be in the form of a cross -- two long and two short petals. In the center of the outer edge of each petal there will be nail prints -- brown with rust and stained with red --  and in the center of the flower will be a crown of thorns, and all who see this will remember" ~Author unknown~

When I was searching for a song to go with this poem, I could not make up my mind, then I saw Easter songs and I knew that I found the song that I wanted.  The poem talks of the lovely dogwood which once was a mighty tree, and the Crucifixion of Christ. They had no idea that the dogwood would become a weak flowering bush and that Christ would not rise again.

LYRICS TO: RISE AGAIN Go ahead, drive the nails in my hands Laugh at me where you stand. Go ahead and say it isn't me, The day will come when you will see. 'Cause I'll rise again. Ain't no power on earth can tie me down. Oh yes, I'll rise again. Death can't keep me in the ground. Go ahead and mock my name, My love for you is still the same. Go ahead and bury me, But very soon I will be free. 'Cause I'll rise again. Ain't no power on earth can tie me down. Yes, I'll rise again. Death can't keep me in the ground. Go ahead and say I'm dead and gone, You will see that you were wrong. Go ahead, try to hide the Son, But all will see that I'm the one. Because I'll rise again. Ain't no power on earth can keep me back. Yes, I'll rise again. Come to take my people back. And I'll rise again. Ain't no power on earth can tie me down. Yes, I'll rise again. Death can't keep me in the ground.