I love the song also and your writings always, but I must confess that those last words are more hollow than they used to be. "I'll drop the cross of self-denial, and enter on my great reward." I need a world which brings meaning to every horror, not just something to endure for a time. Mary McCord Adams says the same in "Horrendous Evils and the Goodness of God" though she paints the path vaguely. I'd rather the song end with that cross becoming a crown, every jewel reflecting the sufferings endured. Much like the exalted state of Jesus whose image of glorification is a slaughtered lamb on the exalted throne of God which proves his worth and gathers all to worship(Rev 5). The cross was the path for Christ's glorification and I believe it is ours also.