The 15-foot illuminated cross

Halloween is upon us. I have to say I’m pretty impressed by the decorations I see at some folks’ houses: Skeletons and spiders, witches and ghouls. The elaborate and extravagant lengths to which some people go always seem to add a festive flavor to the season. (I try not to be too judgmental this time of year. My family engaged in a little bit of this type of behavior when I was growing up, and we don’t harbor any Satanworshippers in our ranks.)

I’ve also noticed that a lot of folks — some of the same folks — decorate their yards for Christmas with the same enthusiasm. There are snowmen and reindeer, gift boxes and colorful lights adorning beautiful trees. And again, the efforts of these people add an element of cheerfulness to an otherwise dull, drab, and cold time of year.

Let me tell you what my dad did.

Before he departed this life, every year at Christmastime my dad would erect a 15-foot illuminated cross on a hillside overlooking the Illinois River where it is intersected by Arkansas Highway 59. On dark nights, the cross could be seen for miles to the southwest toward Oklahoma.

The message my dad was sending was not particularly complex or showy. And it was not particularly difficult to understand. In his own simple way, my dad was reminding the world of the central message of Christmas: A child was born, and would grow to be a man, not just to tell us about a better way to live, not just to heal the sick and turn water into wine, but to be executed in one of the worst ways man could ever imagine, so that sinful and wicked people could be relinked to a holy God from which they had been separated.

My dad didn’t believe in shoving the Gospel down people’s throats, but he definitely had ways to let people know its message, however subtle they might be. That cross on the hillside was one of those ways.

The Christmas season is fast approaching. (Unless you’re Wal-Mart. Then it’s been here since September.) Whatever else you might think about the season, and however you might celebrate it, remember that without that Child, winter would be long, cold, and colorless.

And without His sacrifice, it would last forever.

“For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder; and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.” – Isaiah 9:6 (KJV)

— Doug Chastain is a retired teacher and is currently a large-vehicle transportation specialist for the Siloam Springs School District. (Okay, he drives a bus.) He is also a grass maintenance technician at Camp Siloam. (Yeah, he mows the lawn.) You can contact him at dougchastain@gmail.com. The opinions expressed are those of the author.