To the cross, to the cross I cling! 

"Has not the crucifix become for ages the symbol of grief divinely born? 

Has it not, generation after generation, been hidden in the bosoms of thousands, sustaining the soul of self-denial, and reminding them not to faint beneath the cross of life? 

Has it not met the eye of many a lonely captive, and beguiled him to forget his chains, and from its meek image spread through his dungeon the holiest light?

Has it not kept watch with the  mother by night, as she bent over her sick child, and been to her soul as a star amid the infinite darkness of her sorrow? 

Pressed to the lips of the living, and softly laid upon the breast of the dying. 

It has warmed the love of the Christian while he stays, and given him trust when 'tis time to go."

James Martineau.