February 7 2007

Joel Akin

Bees are Vanishing

 What if the honey were to cease? The latest news is that more then sixty percent of the honey bees are dying off. Perhaps much more then that. Some blame pollution and some blame time. Others say it is a natural thing. But what if the honey bee were to pass away?

 The real question of time is the passage of things. Now we could come up with a scenario of mass starvation. It could mean the end of man. It could mean that food is coming to an end. It could mean the honey we have isn't perfect. But what if it were part of Gods plan for the end? How would we feel if in one day they said "All the honey bees have died! There are no bees left to pollinate. And that means we as a civilization have to get to work and create something or we are going to die."

 In one day the very things that we as a people believed in would suddenly be at an end. Would we know what to do? Lets think a moment. Honey bees not only provide us with honey but also with sugar. We think they don't have a purpose but they do. They help to pollinate the flower and all plants have a way of pollinating and one is by a little bee or a little plant called trisomes. Trisomes are not try some but the ability of the planet to help itself in case of major die off of plant species. In some cases there have been disasters where it seemed as if all bugs would cease. One was in the day of Noah. There wasn't room on the ark for bugs so God had Noah keep one and that was the bee. It was the only bug Noah wanted and that was because it produced honey.

 Now you may not find that in scripture but remember God thinks ahead. And the honey bee was as important to scripture as was the cow which produced milk. Of those two the cow might be the biggest but it was the honey which was still the sweetest. And all of us use honey in one form or another. Either in our tea or our food. For our food has flavorings and one is sugar and sugar is a form of honey.

 There are ways to keep crops alive and one is to have leaf cutter bees or other types of insects loose. They pollinate by tramping among the stems and they can do the job by moving from one plant to another. It doesn't hurt the plant and it is like a man carrying a seed from meadow to meadow. It happens and people rejoice to see those seeds move forward. And many are carried by the wind and some by rain and some by dust rubbing against pollen.

 Yet if the honey were to cease God wouldn't let the bee end even if all on earth failed and died. The current die isn't part of Gods desire but it does test the ingenuity of men to find ways to keep things moving. And that means life.

 The fact is man is on the climb from being a friend to nature to being a product. He is part of the cycle which he has helped create. There is little wrong with this its just that men don't see themselves as the cycle but as the end. And that doesn't always justify the mean spirited cycle of time.

 So lets say that we are part of the cycle and that God wanted us to produce honey. I don't but lets say it was part of the hive mentality of time. Time went into the creature and wanted each part to be a product and each part did. The part which was of men decided they would rather be of the bee and so sin entered into us. We obtained the sting but it turned into death. We obtained the honey but it was the creature which produced for us. We ended up being part of the hive of the city and the city became part of the solution for our future.

 Few of us like the city. It is a busy place and we are constantly on the move. It is like being in a world filled with enterprise. It carries us to the edge and then we are stripped down by the side of the road. There we wait as part of the cell plan while someone who manages edge side experiences writes down our cell number and our location. And then we produce honey by calling them on the cell to explain why we are late for dinner.

 Well, it does play with words and the worst that happens is a flat foot and a tired tow. And that is the truth of life.

 Yet if the tired tow were of sin we would sit there with our cell waiting and waiting and waiting for our number to come up. We'd sit there till the cows came home for dinner and no one came to carry us away to freedom. Why? Because sin doesn't care that we are part of the network. All he cares is that he has someone feed him and that is all he wants. And if we end up with a dark sponge in our hand then its because we were soaked with rain and with thunder and with a desire to punch out someone as we were just not dressed for the occasion.

 So who then do we blame for the demise of the sweet bee? Do we claim it is a sign of global warming? Do we blame men? Do we blame people who operate hives? Or is there a warning in this that the promised land is running out of steam and the flow of milk and honey is starting to ebb?

 The real time period we are in seems to be the demise of men and their dream. It seems to be the demise of the wise man. We don't hear many wise men speak. Even those who do find themselves by the edge and are kept silent by the mass of popular people.

 Popular people are those who are the heart of the media. The media is part of the history of our country. We put trust in the media and it supports us by telling our story. We have a story and then the media comes and tells it. If its a bad story it is more likely to be told though not always. Some like the honey bee won't get much attention until it hits home. We won't worry about it until there isn't much left. And if that happens do we worry most about the sting which has gone silent or the food that won't be coming in?

 The fact is the story of Samson was the story of America. The lion was America and it was torn apart by the strong man. The strong man wanted God to heal the land but in the process he had to tear apart the lion. In the midst of the strong came the sweet and the sweet was the honey. The honey was of the comb and the comb was of the cell. And the cell was of the hive and the hive was of the bee.

 And yet in the sweet there was a desire for strength and people to stand up and be strong. And that is what we desired more then people who were pretty or rich. We wanted people who made a real difference. People who stood up for truth but didn't quibble over tiny issues but big ones. People who fought for the equality of the single man and the just. And we want there to be a Samson who fights for America. We want there to be a Samson who cares and fights for justice and freedom and strength of hope and liberty. And we want those things to be of pure heart like Superman but maybe without the cape.

 The fact is the bee has a sting but it gives up the sting in order to protect its home. Yet one wasp can come and devastate a home because it just keeps on stinging. If there was a creature that should be removed it isn't the bee but the wasp and the hornet and the evil that presides in those with power to keep stinging us.

 None of us wants to be stung. We hate the bee when it is untamed and has a killer nature. But those who are domesticated are under the care of the bee keeper. And they are the ones who care for the needs of the bee. Their job is to help nature provide the sweet and provide a way of measuring out the length of their life in pollinating the food we eat while giving the honey as a double reward.

 So what is killing the bee? The answer isn't time or evil but solution. Solution is like the tree which is in the corner of the garden. It is a rose tree or bush and it is small and not big like others. The rose keeper comes and tests the soil and it says "It needs sulphur." So he buys sulfer but the soil refuses to accept the remedy. And so year after year the rose plant suffers and the wise rose man keeps providing it with sulphur even though the soil won't accept it. Why? Because the soil is acid or alkiline and perhaps the sulphur is the opposite.

 So lets say the bee was hungry but couldn't eat. It was suffering from a bug. Most of the bees have some intestinal bug but this bug was tiny and not easily seen. It stopped up the gut and the bee stopped eating. It started to spread and people said it wasn't external. The bug blocked the colon and then the bee just died.

 So why did it happen? The answer is not just evil but spiritual apathy. All of us are meant to pray and we are meant to ask God for solutions. We all want to know the answers but we don't ask God in wisdom. We ask God in strength of time. But we don't care and we don't listen and yet we all need the bee to help us eat.

 Yet too often we wait until we are broken down and the strong lion is dead. And then we rely on one man who is weak but is the strongest we have. He turns into the Samson of the age and he cannot avoid the Delilah's of the age. They are everywhere. And he is begging God to help him while he has nothing. Now he isn't the bee nor is there a Samson out there but lets say there was a Samson spiritually. Would we turn to them for advice? Or would we think they were arrogant.

 The fact is the bee will be successful. It will continue and the resistant evil will be eradicated. The hive will continue and grow strong and the food will continue to come through. It will be a blessing from God even if we don't thank God. And that really is the point of this story. We are part of the cell and part of the sting and part of the history. And if bees are suffering an intestinal disorder don't worry. They'll get over it and be restored because there are those who pray. And they will pray and pray and pray until God either takes them away or lets their prayers come back upon their own head. And all those Delilah's? They will be there as usual doing their best to get their life in order.

 And if we can find it in our heart we will remember to rest and take time for things and take time for heeding. And even if it seems strange God does speak to us in the quiet of the night. Not with voice but with quietness of heart.