Faces:

A cross to bare

Retired teacher wears one daily and gives many away

George Malone was handed a small wooden cross by his pastor during a congregational retreat. The pastor requested that Malone “do something with it.”

George Malone makes and gives away crosses — more than 300 so far. “Sharing these crosses is like sharing the love of God,” he says.

It’s unlikely that William G. Wallace, pastor of First-Gray Manor Lutheran Church, Baltimore, was pointing one of his parishioners toward a new mission, but that’s exactly what happened. Malone took Wallace’s words to heart. He returned home, thought about the cross and decided to turn it into a necklace. He added some gemstones and a piece of rawhide.

“I put it around my neck and decided to wear it wherever I went,” Malone explained. “The following week I was in church. Some of the men came up to me and asked where I got it, and I reminded them it was the cross we all received. The next thing you know, they all wanted one.”

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