In the film Groundhog Day, Phil Connors woke up at least 3,650 mornings to find he was still in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, forced to repeat the same day over and over. Every day was—Groundhog Day!
Whether it’s those 10 years’ worth of days or, as Director Harold Ramis later said, “more like 30 or 40 years” of days, that’s a really long time to be trapped in a repetitive nightmare.
In his endless holiday repeat, Phil worked his way through various stages. The first few times, he was just confused. Eventually, though, he stole, acted maliciously, exploited those around him, cheated at Jeopardy!, indulged every whim and vice. He even kidnapped Punxsutawney Phil (the groundhog), leading authorities on a high-speed car chase. And then, after who knows how many thousand Groundhog Days, Phil became depressed. He was so depressed at his inability to break free from the shackles of that endless redundancy that he attempted suicide.
Over and over and over.
That’s where the semicolon comes in. When writers decide it’s time to pause, but aren’t ready to end the sentence, they use a semicolon. It’s a way of letting the reader know “We’re not stopping here. There’s more to come.”
Some who have attempted suicide have had semicolon tattoos inked onto their skin, often at the site of an unsuccessful attempt. They wear that tattoo to send a message that this is not the end, to declare that they have chosen to continue on. They want to make something clear, especially to themselves:
There’s more to come.
When Jesus met the invalid in this week’s Gospel of John passage, that man needed a semicolon in his life. He was living on the edge—literally, on the edge. He was near the healing waters of the Pool of Bethesda, but not right by the pool. There was no one to help him get to the pool. That distance, small as it was, meant he could never make it to the water in time to be healed. He had been suffering like that for 38 years, waking up every one of those 13,880 days to face the same horrible existence. He faced it alone.
That’s 13,880 times of never being healed, a very long time to be stuck in an endless loop. He had been living with relief just a few feet away. And yet, it might as well had been miles away for all the good it did him. He could not break out of his endless loop. A person would likely become depressed.
Is it any wonder he couldn’t give Jesus a straight answer when asked, "Do you want to be made well?"
That happens to a lot of people. They have lived so long in their struggle, they no longer recognize hope when it appears before them. After so many days, weeks, and years of no relief, their faith has worn thin.
For this man, though, Jesus inserted a semicolon.
Jesus did not just heal the man. He sent him on his way. The message was clear: The man was not to linger at that location any longer. His situation had changed. He must continue on. After 38 years of endless days, there was, suddenly, more to come.
There’s hope here for us, too. No matter our circumstance, Jesus brings a semicolon to our lives. We are to continue on.
There is definitely more to come.
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PHOTO: Adobe Express and Photoshop Express
The story of semicolons and suicide:
A great read “The Sanctifying Silliness of Groundhog Day”:
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Please join us Friday morning for DaySpring’s Lectionary Breakfast. We meet online on Zoom** and in person at Our Breakfast Place. It’s a quick hour from 8:00 to 9:00. It includes breakfast we order from the menu, scriptures we read aloud, and unfettered discussion. We say what we think, and we grow from listening to each other.
And there’s laughing.
Blessings,
Steve
**Zoom link (Zoom allows you to mute the camera and the microphone if you don’t wish to be seen or heard.)
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89947678414
SCRIPTURES FOR SUNDAY AND THE COMING WEEK
Find them here:
Print them here:
Acts 16:9-15
Psalm 67
Revelation 21:10, 22-22:5
John 14:23-29 or John 5:1-9
Sixth Sunday of Easter (May 25, 2025)
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