Interesting tidbit passed along via email. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to verify the truth of the statement but it gives food for thought. What do you think?
Have you ever attended a church service and saw someone hold up a finger as they are exiting the sanctuary during the service?
What does it mean?
During the slavery days when the masters took their slaves with them to public gatherings, the slaves would always sit in the balcony. When the slave had to go to the bathroom or wanted to be excused for any other reason, they would hold their hand up and keep it up until their master acknowledged that they saw their hand and gave them permission to leave or in other words "excused them to leave". After the slave was given permission to leave, they would hold up one finger as they were leaving to inform anyone that saw them leave that they had been excused. So it means "My Master has excused me" That is where the "holding up one finger while leaving the Sanctuary" carried over from. Which goes to show that you should investigate rituals before you follow them.
The next time you see someone holding up their finger, just tell them: "It's okay to leave the plantation, you've been freed"
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