knelt; I prostrated myself before the Christ who hung dead on
that accursed tree. I rose again and saw him. Dead? Nay,
living!--living evermore in the glory which he had with the Father
before the world was! The truth went surging irresistibly through my
soul; until at length, able to restrain myself no longer, I cried,
caring not though the world heard me, "Verily, this was the Son of
God!"

* * * * *

I am old now, and the end draws near. For half a century I have loved
and served Him. I have known trials and sorrows not a few, but His
presence has upheld me. The promise he gave his disciples the night
before his death has been my mainstay: "Lo, I am with you alway!" In
the faith of that promise I have seen men and women die with the light
of heaven on their faces, heroic amid the flames, triumphant before the
lion's eyes. I have heard them once and again protesting with their
last breath, "_Christianus sum!_ I am a Christian!"

I, too, am a Christian, and humbly proud of it. The cross in my time
has been transformed from an emblem of shame into a symbol of triumph.
And the Christ who suffered upon it has been made unto me wisdom and
righteousness and sanctification and redemption. He is my first, my
last, my midst and all in all. I have learned somewhat of the meaning
of his life and death and glorious resurrection. Many wonderful hopes
have I; but the best is this, that I--the soldier who had charge of his
crucifixion--may yet behold his face in peace; that I, who bowed that
night with broken heart beneath his cross, may some day look upon the
King in his beauty and fall before him, crying, "My Lord and my God!"

End of Project Gutenberg's The Centurion's Story, by David James Burrell

*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE CENTURION'S STORY ***

***** This file should be named 29566.txt or 29566.zip *****
This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:
http://www.gutenberg.org/2/9/5/6/29566/

Produced by Juliet Sutherland and the Online Distributed
Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net

Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions
will be renamed.

Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no
one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation
(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without
permission and without paying copyright royalties.