FAR back in the twilight of the pictured history of the past, the cross is found on the borders of the river Nile. A horizontal piece of wood fastened to an upright beam indicated the hight of the water in flood. This formed a cross, the Nileometer. If the stream failed to rise a certain hight in its proper season, no crops and no bread was the result. From famine on the one hand to plenty on the other, the cross came to be worshiped as a symbol of life and regeneration, or feared as an image of decay and death. This is one, so called, origin of the Cross.
The cross was a symbol of life and regeneration in India long before this usage on the Nile, and for another reason. The most learned antiquarians agree in holding it unquestionable that Egypt was colonized from India, and crosses migrated with the inhabitants. ‘Proofs in adequate confirmation of this point are found, ‘ says the learned Dr. G. L. Ditson, ‘in waifs brought to light in ancient lore. Waif originally signified goods a thief, when pursued, threw away to avoid detection. Many of the facts to be brought forth in our inquiry were doubtless intentionally scattered and put out of sight to prevent apprehension of the proper subject to which they belong.’
The cross bespeaks evolution in religion. It is the product of time, and the relic of the revered past. It begins with one thing and ends with another.
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