How did it become dark Calvary?
It was just a hill,
Rising near Jerusalem,
Like many others, till-

Men chose it for harsh punishment
For those declared unfit
To continue with their lives
For crimes they did commit.

No beauty lay upon that hill
For no grassy carpets spread
Where constant, hard and heavy boots
Of Roman soldiers tread,

No wild flowers blushed upon that hill,
For no tender seed finds birth
Where heavy wooden beams are dragged
And turn to dust the earth.

No, no beauty lay upon that hill,
But God touched it in a way
To transform it to a special place
For all of us today.

For upon that hill where could not bloom
A graceful, flowering tree,
There rose a rough and rugged one,
To bless humanity.

And where grew no sweet and lovely blooms,
Nor hung fruit-laden vine,
There hung a beaten, bloody form,
Most human-but divine.

And in that awesome place of torment,
Grace and mercy's beauty fell,
For with words of "It is finished,"
Came our deliverance from hell.

And a darkened world most surely
Must puzzle now that we
Who can weep still for His anguish,
Find our peace in Calvary.