My friend David Stephens (http://www.linkedin.com/in/davidwstephens) recently joked that I should explore the correlations between bees – tiny insect creatures that I especially like – and their attitudes and the Beatitudes of Jesus as depicted in the Gospels. Hmm, interesting challenge.
As for the bees I have recently added my signature to the Avaaz organisation's attempt to prevent toxic pesticides which are killing them. Please join this movement: https://secure.avaaz.org/en/save_the_bees/?vl
As for the Beatitudes, based on Matthew's gospel, there are nine positive attitudes from the opening of the Sermon of the Mount.
Blessed are the poor in spirit…
Blessed are those who mourn…
Blessed are the gentle…
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness…
Blessed are the merciful…
Blessed are the pure in heart…
Blessed are the peacemakers…
Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness…
Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you…
I think Bees reflect all this. First, they are poor in spirit – they humbly go about their work on the flowers. True, they get excited when they discover the pollen, but if another explorer is there, then they quickly move somewhere else. They don't shove other insects around much.
They mourn too – the lovely sound of their buzzing, as the day fades and the Sun god begins to retire to his private place of darkness, is like an elegy for the lost light.
And they are gentle – not like their waspish cousin. How rare the bee that stings! They hunger and thirst for the pure righteousness of nectar. Like their gentleness, they are merciful too, especially to humans, providing copious quantities of honey and wax and other things for our delight and taste and delectation.
Their pureness of heart is legendary and leads to such pure honey – crystal like and crystal light – oh! Such sweetness, yet so anti-septic in its properties: impure bacteria and midget filths have little scope to live where pure honey is.
They are peace makers; their hives are epitomes of collaboration and support; they help each other; their roles are clear and defined; all is peace and harmony. And when persecuted, by microbes and viruses, they persist with their work till the very end – their righteousness shines as an example to us all.
Finally, they are blessed whatever we say, and whatever we do – with pesticides – to bees. Exalted in their symmetrical hives of heaven, they ignore the rant of the homeless and the dispossessed, and the frantic humans seeking their paltry homes on Earth, for together they are a community – they are One. Blessed be the busy bee for fly they do above all our concerns.
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