John the Baptist has left us plentiful reminders. We have not only a shrub – St John’s wort – named after him. In England 496 ancient churches took his name. Something about this austere and solitary prophet made him immensely popular in the middle ages. He is also remembered in a memorable sonnet by a Scottish laird. The 14 lines of verse are as rugged as Jesus’ forerunner. (Matthew tells us he lived on locusts and wild honey and wore a rough coat of camel’s hair.)
It was William Drummond (1585-1649) who came to write a sonnet about him. In 14 lines Drummond captured the bleak integrity of a man who (and again we are indebted to Matthew for the information) made an enemy of Herod Antipas by denouncing his incestuous behaviour with Herodias, his brother’s wife. He was imprisoned and executed. Somewhat the worse for wear, Herod promised Salome, Herodias’s daughter, whatever she asked of him. Prompted by her mother, she asked for John’s head. As Augustine commented, an oath that was rashly taken was criminally kept. It is possible that John had a connection with the Qumran community, custodians of the Dead Sea scrolls.
As for Drummond, he was born at Hawthornden, was on the point of marrying Euphemia Cunningham when she died on the eve of the wedding. He regarded John as ‘the last and greatest Herald of Heaven’s King’. John’s parched body and hollow eyes made him appear ‘an uncouth thing’ and the sonnet ends memorably with the three lines:
‘Who listened to his voice, obeyed his cry? Only the echoes, which he made relent, Rung from their marble caves “Repent! Repent!”’
Repentance is the other side of the medal we call faith. We can’t have one without the other. If conversion means anything it means we turn from one thing and to another. John helps us understand that. So does the season of Lent.
Traditionally St John’s wort, blossoming profusely in mid-summer, has been used to treat depression. St John’s day is observed on 24 June. ‘Wort’ simply means ‘plant’.
BY PACE
St Mark’s church, Broomhill, Sheffield has a church to be proud of. Designed by George Pace, it replaced one bombed in WW2. Its ground-plan, hexagonal, is one of the unusual features of this concrete, stone-clad building. A professional virtual heritage tour (well worth watching) introduces a website visitor to the building. The attentiveness to church design is part of the overall outlook of the church, which is attached to the Progressive Christianity Network.
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