Comma

These photos by my friend Lynn Hurry are of the Comma Butterfly.
It is so called because its orange-brown colouring is punctuated on the underwing with a distinctive white comma shape. It has ragged wing edges which, when it is at rest, resembles a dead leaf.

Unlike many butterfly species, which are becoming rarer, it is a success story of Nature, being more prolific and widespread. Some attribute this to global warming. It is commonly found in Britain, Europe, North Africa and Asia.

Spiritually, this butterfly has several meanings including renewal; rebirth; unconditional love; transformation and hope.

Personally, I see in its name ~ comma~ an invitation to pause briefly and for a moment enter into stillness.
A comma links two parts of a sentence and so we can allow a pause to be a link between one kind of activity and another.
The purpose of this brief moment can be to renew our connection with God and with Nature.
The Psalmist of Psalm 46 gives us a picture of a world in turmoil, whether it be of nations; planet earth, or more personal. Throughout this upheaval, God is our refuge and our strength. His voice melts the angry clamour of human voices; of our human spirit. God makes wars to cease, within our hearts leading hopefully to a renewed understanding of God’s presence in our hearts.
So, the Psalmist encourages to Be still and know that I am God.

We can see, therefore, that the grammatical pause in this butterfly’s very being has a purpose and a meaning which calls us to reflection, renewal and transformation. This comes if we pause with God.

Too often, in our daily life we are on the go in frenetic activity. So is the world. It is vitally important then to be still and to form a new connection with the World of Nature, represented by the Comma Butterfly, and appreciate the beauty of God’s world. Only then might we cherish all that God has made and find a new hope and a new beginning. Only so might we become deeper instruments of God’s healing love.
The Comma Butterfly is known as a pollinator, bringing the means of new life to the Natural World. That is a role we can learn from this butterfly in all our dealings with each other.

[Mr G. 9th July 2025]

Built only to serve

LIGHTHOUSE

I was built only to serve;
to warn; to guide;
reassure; prevent.

I was built on rock.
I am stability in a shifting world
of uncertainty and fragility;
reliability in a sea of change.

I can withstand wind and wave,
crashing storms,
skies rent asunder with electric light.
I can be drenched with wild rain;
withstand angry skies;
resist swirling mist;
be brave in deepest dark.

I can wave at stars,
bathe in the sun;
befriend the moon.

You may take me for granted,
even find me beautiful,
solid but slender;
be at peace because I am there.

I am a lighthouse;
keeping mariners safe, focused
and at the beck and call
of all who sail by.

(Inspired by the Hundredth Anniversary of the
BBC Shipping Forecast July 4^th 2025)

[Mr.G]

My Lord and My God

St.Thomas shares his thoughts on the eve of his feast day. (July 3rd)
See: John’s Gospel Ch20. v. 24-29

I was not there when the Lord in Risen Glory broke the locked door
of the upper Room.
Brilliantly alive and carrying joy.
Resurrection Joy!

Full of a renewed sense of their call by God
my friends loved telling me what I had missed.
Had they made it up as a way of dealing with their grief?
Mourning takes interesting forms sometimes.
They were quite smug though so was it a but of one-upmanship?

Yet I wanted to believe them!
It was too good to be true, so I was filled with uncertainty.
That is when I doubted what they told me
and that moment was to define me
not just then but for all time.
I gave my name to all doubters.
Even those who did not share faith.

I don’t know what made me do it.
I really wanted to believe what my friends told me.
“Unless I see the marks of the nails in his hands…
I will not believe!”
My longing was so deep.
But with those words, I had missed the chance.
My heart was heavy, my soul seemingly cast adrift.

Eight days later we gathered again,
to pray; to break bread;
to find in each other’s company, a kind of solace.

Then, like a whirlwind of sheer light, HE came again.
He looked at me, not with sadness, or anger or in a dismissive way.
“Thomas”, he said, “my dear delightful Thomas. Always loyal,
always a bit too eager, always sure. Come here.”
He beckoned me to his side.

Gently, lovingly, he invited me to inspect his wounds.
“Don’t doubt Thomas. Believe!”

My inner spirit burst with joy, my soul reached out to heaven.
From the seed-bed of my praying I placed words around a thought
I had long been praying silently in my heart.
A praying which became so strong because I had wrestled with doubt.

It was a prayer that flowed from the deepest faith possible.
“MY LORD AND MY GOD!”

There! I had prayed it! Aloud!

People may still use my doubting to justify their unbelief but
I had reached beyond that into the very depth of my soul
and I said that word which is all Jesus needs
to lift us up into the beauteous light of eternal life.
Here, Now and Always!
Yes, Lord!

Jesus, our Risen Master, our Lord, Our God held me in his
radiant smile and looked around at all of us gathered there.
“I am indeed your Lord. I am indeed your God,
but never forget to tell people what I tell you now,
I love you.
I am your most loving friend!

{Mr G}

Mid-Summer Wort

Today, the Christian church keeps the festival day of St. John the Baptist.
There is another feast day later in the year when we mark his beheading at the hands of King Herod. Today, however, it is a joyful day, possibly helped by the fact that in the Northern Hemisphere it is Mid-Summer!

One of the things that marks this as a special time for all sorts of people is that it is also associated with a special flower, The Hypericum, or to give it its posh name, Hypericum perforatum. A native of Europe but now flowering in many other places worldwide (except for Siberia and other cold extremes),it is a bright flower marking bright summer. The dominant colour is vivid yellow, its petals often decorated with black dots. It generally has five petals with five smaller leaf-like sepals below them.

Hypericum is made up of two words from Greek – Hyper meaning above and eikon meaning picture. This may well date back to a custom, in earlier times, of hanging the flower over an Icon (sacred picture) in the home.

This really introduces us the other name for this plant which is St John’s Wort.There is a direct association with St John the Baptist in the flower itself. It has been suggested that the five petals form a halo, a symbol of saintliness. The red juice which is released when the stem is crushed, represents the blood of the martyred saint.

St John’s Wort is also known for its healing properties and in various forms is a wort or salve (0intment). In earlier times it was used, therefore to ward off evil spirits; safeguard against sickness, protect against the bad things in life. This made the plant special in the nature of healing and it is still offered as an alternative medicine. It is however toxic to some animals and even humans so should be used carefully and advisedly.
Its power and that of St John the Baptist, is, however feted in an anonymous 14^th Century Old English poem:

St Johns wort doth charm all the witches away.
If gathered at midnight on the Saints holy day.
And devils and witches have no power to harm
Those that do gather the plant for a charm.
Rub the lintels and post with that red juicy flower
No thunder nor tempest will then have the power.

The ministry of healing, offered by John the Baptist to the people who heard his message was a more powerful salve. He was known in the Gospel as the Forerunner the one who prepared the way of Salvation through God’s Son, Jesus.This Salvation is God’s healing of a broken and unloving world and Jesus his beloved Son His Salve, is the ointment of God’s Saving Love.
John the Baptist led the way to Jesus through his baptism of Repentance, a Baptism which Jesus enhanced through his own life and ministry, death and resurrection. It is possible to say that it is in Baptism that we receive the Healing of God, the Salve which invites us to partake of the Salve of eternal life.

Another title by which St John the Baptist is known is that of Friend of the Bridegroom.
He knew Jesus through a life lived in friendship with God. Friendship brings its own healing and when we are in friendship with God we are touched by the salve or Wort of his love and friendship for us.

Often when we visit friends we take them flowers. Receiving flowers can brighten and change the direction of our day and even our life. Giving them is even better! The love behind them is better still.

St John the Baptist offers us not St John’s Wort but the love and friendship of the giver, the Lord, our SALVE-ation, who loved us a into being created us to be bright with His image.

[Mr G. Nativity of St John the Baptist. 2025]