C is for Cross
There is a deep, rich Christian tradition in Ethiopia. Assuming what we read about the Ethiopian eunuch in Acts 8 is correctly understood to mean what we know today as Ethiopia (apparently there’s some debate that it could have been a court official from the area now known as Sudan), Christianity was present in Ethiopia in the first century. And in reality, the link between Ethiopia and the children of Israel goes even farther back than that. But that’s for a later post (like, maybe J is for…). For now, I wan to focus on the crosses in Ethiopia.
Ethiopian crosses are beautiful. If I understood correctly while I was in Ethiopia a few months ago, there are four different styles of cross designs in Ethiopia. And the four different designs come from four different regions of Ethiopia. Of all of the different styles of crosses that you find in Ethiopia, this one is my favorite:
Kind of looks like a key, right? That’s by design. It’s a reminder that the cross is the key that opens Heaven’s doors.
How cool is that?
The cross is our entry into heaven!
We can get so distracted by “churchy” things that we forget to keep the main thing the main thing. That’s one of the reasons we have this cross hanging on our wall. It’s a reminder that everything changes because of what was done on the cross some 2000 years ago. It’s not some magic talisman or merely a trinket to revere. It’s a tangible reminder of the work that was done on a hill called Calvary.
I could get all preachy here, but I won’t. Just remember that the cross is the key. And because of that key, God is doing a new thing with His new creation.
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