This stone is a remarkable portrayal of the story of The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry and the rose he has tamed (or that has tamed him) on his little planet with its two active volcanoes and one extinct one, the rose that has demanded his attention and is then sorry to see him go, the rose he himself is eager to get back to, even if he must leave his body behind, at the end of the story, after his experiences travelling and his meetings with various characters, including the fox that gives him some sound advice and makes him realize the importance not of any old rose, but of his rose. The rose is on the left, not so proud, I think, leaning over towards him, lovely in its loveliness. The Little Prince is on the right, his head on a level with that of the flower, sitting on the ground, his legs bent up towards him, his arms resting on his knees, dressed in a gleaming white shirt and grey trousers. The fox tells the Little Prince that the most important things, the most valuable things, can only be seen with the eyes of the heart, not with our physical eyes. The most important things may be just out of our sight. This is an important lesson.

Meanwhile, in language, I would like to look at four connections made by the addition of a letter, in this case the vowel i (or its corresponding semi-consonant y). We saw before how Christ’s death on the Cross releases us from our debt if we believe in him – “death” and “debt” are clearly connected (a-b, addition of h). So it is we find “I owe” in “obey” (b-v-w are linked phonetically). I think when we begin to obey Christ’s commandment to love the Lord our God with all our heart and to love our neighbour as ourself, the debt we contracted by our sinful nature is washed away. We find this result in the link between “serve” and “receive” (c is pronounced s). When we serve the other, we actually receive – a sense of fulfilment; it is when we slight the other that we begin to feel smaller or mean. “Receive” is connected with “believe” (phonetic pair l-r, alphabetical pair b-c). The word “God” in Greek is “theos”, which, while also connected with “other” (thereby proving Christ’s commandment of earlier), can be connected with “theory”. We may have all kinds of theories about God, life, existence, but at some stage we may need to let go of our powers of reasoning and step into the realm of faith. Finally, “trade” and “betray”. When we trade, when we buy and sell goods, often to the detriment of others and the environment, when we use things to make money, in short, I think we are somehow betraying our calling to be stewards of the planet we inhabit. It is a question of whether you see yourself as an author (things belong to you and therefore you can do with them what you like) or a translator (you are just passing through, or they are passing through you).