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Following an early custom of representing in the apse or chancel some symbol of The Creation, in the semidome there is an original composition of Mr. William Francis, a Buffalo artist. In the first chapter of Genesis it is written, "And the earth was without form and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters." The circle and the Assyrian "Stepped Temple Motif" which both represent infinity, appear in the half-dome of the chancel directly above the word "love" as the source of the Greek wave scroll used to represent the River of Life. Above the waters appear conventionalized flower forms and butterflies symbolizing fixed ideas or the ever recurring forms of the natural world. The ivory Byzantine cross represents Christ. Around the cross is the Persian style of the vine or tree of life representing eternal life.

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