I wrote this essay to help both Christians and inquirers understand Christianity in a different way: namely, that the crucifixion of Jesus was not just an act of violence but despite that violence an expression of God's compassion for our humankind. The death of Jesus became the seed of a growing community which enacted and still enacts God's love. I've described a few of those actors in this divine drama, as have the fifteen friends and colleagues who added their responses to my essay. Such women and men are witnesses to a living help and hope in our dark times.