Orpine

This orpine I found growing in the village of Avebury in Wiltshire in the autumn. Its Latin name is hylotelephium telephium though it has many vernacular cognomens in addition to orpine, which are both as varied and as colourful as the flower itself: frog's-stomach, livelong, harping Johnny, life-everlasting, midsummer-men, live-forever, orphan John and witch's moneybags. Perhaps the latter example is the one most popular at Avebury, if some of the local bookshops are anything to go by.

The Lord Jesus Christ goes by different names in the scriptures, of which those three are the most common. Yet when the angel appeared to Joseph in Matthew’s second chapter, he commands:

…and thou shalt call his name Jesus: for he shall save his people from their sins.

He is Lord, He is Christ, He is Prince of Peace, He is Healer, He is the Word of God…but principally, to fallen sinners who believe in His name, He is Saviour.

יְהוֹשֻׁעַ (Yəhôšua), Ἰησοῦς (Iēsous): YHWH saves, YHWH is salvation. We who were sentenced to death before we were even born and were left spiritually orphaned, may now 'live-forever'!

Happy Christmas.