Friday Slowdown

This old hymn is so loved and well known that there are three different towns that have laid claim to being the birthplace of the song!  In George Bennard's biography, it tells of the traveling evangelist having written one verse in one town, finished the text in another, and set it to musical accompaniment in a third.
No matter where it was written, it has been a steadfast favorite of Christians everywhere. There is so much packed into this hymn that it might be well to read it, before giving it a listen:

On a hill far away stood an old rugged cross,
The emblem of suffering and shame;
And I love that old cross where the dearest and best
For a world of lost sinners was slain.

So I’ll cherish the old rugged cross,
Till my trophies at last I lay down;
I will cling to the old rugged cross,
And exchange it some day for a crown.

O that old rugged cross, so despised by the world,
Has a wondrous attraction for me;
For the dear Lamb of God left His glory above
To bear it to dark Calvary.

In that old rugged cross, stained with blood so divine,
A wondrous beauty I see,
For ’twas on that old cross Jesus suffered and died,
To pardon and sanctify me.

To the old rugged cross I will ever be true;
Its shame and reproach gladly bear;
Then He’ll call me some day to my home far away,
Where His glory forever I’ll share.