What’s in a name?
This week’s bunch of freshly cut flowers are virginal white CallaLilys, which are neither Callas nor Lilys but something entirely different: Zantedeschia aethiopica. A genus native to South Africa roughly translating to “Pig’s Ear,” the CallaLily has found popularity in Anglican countries where it is sometimes known as the Easter Lily, celebrating the resurrection of the rabble rousing rabbi. Of course, Easter (or Pesah in Hebrew), is also etymologically linked to Passover and the Exodus from Egypt. To further complicate matters, the Easter Lily is also a badge that is worn by Irish Republicans as symbol of remembrance for those who died or were executed during the 1916 Easter Rising.
Which just makes me wonder, why can’t we all just get along?
“Religious controversies are always productive of more acrimony and irreconcilable hatreds than those which spring from any other cause.”
George Washington circa 1765