I love white dogwood blossoms. When I lived in a parsonage, right next door to the church where my father was a pastor, there were many old fashioned trees and shrubs planted between the house and the church. Deep rose colored camellias, a snow ball bush, pink hawthorn. My favorite was the tall, stately white dogwood.

In later years, hiking many trails in the PNW, I remember seeing the white flowering trees in the woods, adding a smudge of white among the dark firs.

There’s a legend about the blossom and the tree that are interesting. It is only a legend, but we can admire the blossom, for it does tell a story.

Briefly, the legend is that Jesus was crucified on a dogwood tree and because the wood never wanted to be put to such use again, God twisted and gnarled the trunk so it couldn’t be used in that manner again. So now, instead of a tree large enough to be used as a cross of crucifixion, it is smaller and can’t be used for such a task.

This is a legend and there’s nothing in the Bible that talks about the dogwood tree. But I like the symbolism of the blossom.

Look at it. It’s shaped in the form of a cross. There are four indentations on each petal. In some blossoms, the indentation is tinged with red. The Indentation is the symbol of the piercing in Jesus’ hands and feet and the crown of thorns on his head, the light tinge of red, the blood shed. The center of the blossom signifies the crown placed on his head.

No matter, if the story is a legend–which I believe it is–the symbol is beautiful and a good way to express a little of what God–who was Jesus in human form–did on this day. He gave himself as a sacrifice for our sins. Yes, for our sins. All of us have sinned. All must recognize they are sinners and in need of forgiveness that can only come from God. That’s why he died these two-thousand some years ago.

Today, we think about the cross. Jesus, the Son of God, did that for us because he was perfect. We can thank him for that sacrifice and remember on this day what he did.

The best part is in two more days, we celebrate that he rose from death to life. Only God can do that, and he did.

But today, we remember the cross. And the little symbols throughout nature that reminds us of that. The dogwood blossom.

Listen to the song below. Let the words sink into your mind and soul, the story.

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