Photo and Commentary (c)2025 by Robert Howson
Tuesday, September 9, 2025
Coming across the word monarch I have two general responses. Depending upon the situation my mind conjures up either an image of Buckingham Palace, Queen Elizabeth, and the changing of the guard, or a black and orange butterfly flitting over a meadow. But recently I became aware of a third option which has caught my attention. A family of birds known as Monarch Flycatchers, or simply Monarchs, is found across sub-Saharan Africa, into south-east Asia, including Australia and a number of Pacific islands. The Shining Flycatcher is just one of these long-tailed songbirds.
The species is dimorphic, which means the male and the female look quite different. The male is attired entirely in an iridescent blue-black wardrobe, while the female you see pictured here, adds chestnut and white to complete its appearance. In spite of its name, it prefers shady places, especially streamside vegetation, from which it ventures out to capture flying insects. It seems the male is shyer than the female, which may explain why I have her portrait and not his.
While we shouldn’t be surprised that “monarch” presents us with a variety of options, it’s almost expected that Paul would employ the term in a political context. In one of his most superlative statements, he makes sure to include this term which encompasses all that includes human power and authority. “I have become absolutely convinced that neither death nor life, neither messenger of Heaven nor monarch of earth, neither what happens today nor what may happen tomorrow, neither a power from on high nor a power from below, nor anything else in God’s whole world has any power to separate us from the love of God in Jesus Christ our Lord!” (Romans 8:38-39 J.B. Phillips New Testament) If Paul had the words to widen the inclusiveness of God’s love for us, I’m sure he would have done so. But his comprehensive statement covers the two areas that constrain all of us, time and space. In a practical sense, that means there is absolutely nothing that I can do that would make God love me any more, or any less.