Walking through the 7 foot tall rows of sweet corn, checking the ears for insects, corn worms and to see how close to harvest they were, I loved the buzzing of the honeybees even though it was so loud it blocked out all other sounds. Thousands of bees buzzing around my head, darting here and there, skillfully pollinating, painted a beautiful lively picture that was a joy to witness. They were such “Busy Bees”, fulfilling their work, that they didn't seem to notice me. They weren't distracted at all by this “intruder” in their midst.
Recently, the remembrance of that “bee” experience of several years ago suddenly came to my thought as I realized how I had been mesmerized by the political maelstrom that had encompassed the country and distracted me from my “mission”. I had fallen for the “bait” to engage… spouting strong feelings, participating in sometimes hateful rhetoric, self righteous opinions, bitterness... being drawn away from what I had considered my life purpose.
I was disappointed in myself but seemed drawn to get involved. Remembering the bees hit me like a ton of bricks and it awakened me to what commitment to a mission means.
As I pondered, feeling ashamed of myself for being pulled down once again, a story from the Bible came to thought. Lessons from the Bible, though maybe thousands of years old, continue to provide a rich treasure of life lessons when we can see them as applied to our daily experience.
How easily I had been diverted from my strong desire to follow the appeal of Micah the Morasthite quoted in the Bible when he said of God: … “He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?” No mention of being distracted, veering from the path, lowering our standard to the level of hateful conduct, criticism or losing touch with spirituality.
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| Bee-ing a Good Student |
Then just a few days after thinking about the faithfulness of the bees to their mission, while reading from the book of Nehemiah in the Holy Bible, the realization came that this old “distraction” trick is not new. The pull to separate us from Love, goodness, kindness and right thinking is as old as time itself. I wondered if the bees had read that story in school and learned from it!!!!
Nehemiah was a high official in the Persian court of King Artaxerxes I. After hearing about the sad state of affairs in Judah, the home of his ancestors, Nehemiah acquired the king’s permission to return to Jerusalem and rebuild that city and its fortifications which had been destroyed by enemies. That became his mission and purpose.
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| Nehemiah the Builder |
There were many distractions, primarily from Sanballat and Tobiah, Regional Governors who resented his involvement and were trying to tempt him to come down from the work, to distract him and draw him away from the work he was doing. This seemed to me like a parallel to the temptation I had experienced to engage in “conflict” over our own political process.
But Nehemiah stuck by his guns (well… a figure of speech actually as there were no guns in those days!!). He stayed on the wall and, like the Busy Bees, told the detractors that he had a work to do and he was not going to be distracted.
Seeing how easily we can be pulled away from our work, drawn into endless conflict, it became important to me to “define” my mission and purpose. A clue came from the master Christian, Jesus of Nazareth when he said:
The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me,
Because He has anointed Me
To preach the gospel to the poor;
He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,
To proclaim liberty to the captives
And recovery of sight to the blind,
To set at liberty those who are oppressed;
To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.”
Luke 4:17-19
Religious leader Mary Baker Eddy, whose Bible companion book Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures is studied worldwide, offers this counsel as an alert to stay focused on spirituality: “Being in sympathy with matter, the worldly man is at the beck and call of error, and will be attracted thitherward." Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy 21:25
If our Mission and Purpose is to be Christian Healers and to uplift the lives of others, this hymn in the Christian Science Hymnal (#5) gives direction:
A voice from heaven we have heard,
The call to rise from earth;
Put armor on, the sword now gird,
And for the fight go forth.
The foe in ambush claims our prize,
Then heed high heaven’s call.
Obey the voice of Truth, arise,
And let not fear enthrall.
The cause requires unswerving might:
With God alone agree.
Then have no other aim than right;
End bondage, O be free.
Depart from sin, awake to love:
Your mission is to heal.
Then all of Truth you must approve,
And only know the real.
When we keep our mission and purpose foremost in thought, we can silence the world's distractions with that buzzing activity we witness in the Bee World.
Thanks Bees and Nehemiah for being good role models.
