Page 11 - Southwell_The Chronicle_DEC_2023

FROM CHAPLAIN’S PEN
ITHE MON ARCH
BU T TERFL Y
morning. Then, huddling inside the archway, Jack raised his hands up closer to his mouth and breathed warm air onto the butterfly. “There you are, little fella,” he said. “That should warm you up.”
Now, what makes this a coincidence or even more, a God-incidence? Well, it was the Bible reading that Jack could hear at exactly the moment he picked up the butter- fly. It was a reading from the very first book of the Bible, the Book of Genesis. It read: “The LORD God formed Adam of the dust from the soil, and breathed into his face the breath of life, and Adam was a living soul.”
It was at that very moment that Jack had breathed on the butterfly.
“Behold, the Breath of Life!” said the Chaplain.
The butterfly’s wings began to flutter.
Jack breathed again.
Another flutter. Then another. Jack slowly opened his hands. And, then, off it flew off towards the Magnolia tree.
“Tihei mauri ora,” whispered Mr Williams, who had watched the whole thing.
“The breath of life,” Jack repeated, smiling.
The reading ended, and the silence was as full as if a choir were singing.
Yours in Christ
Reverend Canon Neale Troon
n All Hallows Chapel, we love stories; after all, Jesus was a storyteller! This story, written by Reverend Pickering, is based on a true story, inspired by one of
our own chapel party.
Jack was well aware of the word “coincidence”: something that’s not planned or arranged, but seems like it is. But he’d recently learnt of another word very similar to coincidence: “Godincidence” meaning a combination of events that seemed to be brought together by God Himself.
You see, a few mornings ago, it was Jack’s turn as part of the chapel party to stand on the door of the chapel, greet- ing students as they came in and checking their uniforms. After every class had made its way inside, it was not un- common for Jack to find himself without a seat. He’d have to stand just outside the chapel door. From this position, he was not able to see the chaplain directly but he could still hear him as he read from the Bible.
It just so happened that at the very moment of the Bible reading, Jack spotted something down in the doorway.
It was a monarch butterfly. It would need moving, Jack thought, before the students exited the chapel; otherwise, it would be trampled underfoot.
Without hesitation, Jack bent down and took the butterfly gently into his hands. However, its distinctly bright or- ange wings were not moving; it was indeed a very frosty
CHRISTMAS DAY
SERVICE
We warmly invite you and your family to join us for Christmas Day Service at Hallows Chapel
8am 25 December 2023