Honeybees Holler Help!

honey-beeSome of the poets who have appeared in this space have expressed a great fondness for bees. In the poem “The Force of Friendship,” Rumi wrote “The bee, through mystic inspiration, fills its rooms with honey.” In the poem “Last Night, As I Was Sleeping,” Antonio Machado dreamed of a beehive in his heart, where the golden bees made white combs and sweet honey from his past failures.

The movie “The Deadly Bees” was made during my childhood  During my lifetime, much anxiety has been expressed over the spread of Africanized bees through South and Central America.

Honeybees holler help!

These days, honeybees in North America and Europe are having troubles. Apparently entire colonies of bees collapse as part of the normal course of events. 2006 was a particularly bad year for beekeepers. This isn’t just bad for beekeepers or honey lovers. This is bad for growers and eaters of the many different foods pollinated by honeybees, like you and me.

People seem to have recognized that this is a serious problem. I believe a lot of smart people are working on the problem. Many causes have been proposed, including pesticides, parasites, viruses, fungi, genetic factors, beekeeping practices and electromagnetic radiation.

I make no claim to know which cause or group of causes is the most important factor. All I know is that the collapse of large numbers of bee colonies is the bees’ way of crying out “Help!” I hope that we remember how much we need the bees. I hope we are not too hard on the bees.

I recently had a thought that every species on earth needs a human spokesperson, a human advocate, a human singer of that species. Who hears the honeybees holler help? I’m not taking on Apis mellifera, the honeybee, at least not today, but it would be a good thing if someone did.

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Welcome to Mystery of Ascension! We are students and advocates of the the New Message from God. We are members of a worldwide community. We seek to assist the world in successfully navigating difficult times ahead. We seek to assist the world in successfully emerging into a greater community of intelligent life. You will also find some poetry. Find out more about us here. Contact us here.

Last Night, As I Was Sleeping by Antonio Machado, Translated by Robert Bly

There are two reasons I am sharing this poem.

First, I recalled this poem when I read the New Message teaching “The Gift of a New Life.” Here is a taste of that teaching.

God does not have to figure out your situation. The Lord of the universe is not focused on your life. But God has put Knowledge within you, and it holds your purpose and direction. It will find the people you must find. It will bring correction, harmony and balance to your life if you are able to discern it and to follow it and to apply it, wherever that is necessary.

This is what creates a new life—not an old life with a few enhancements; not an old life with a new belief system; not an old life with a new set of clothes or a fancy religious explanation for everything; not a tragic person dressed up for success; not a lonely, isolated person who has now become socially acceptable because you say and do all the right things.

Second, I had about an hour to redeem between the time I got to the gate at Denver International Airport, and time my flight would take off for St. Paul.  On the outside, I was just one of many people casually strolling around the terminal area.  But on the inside, my arms were outstretched, and I was crying out with a loud voice, “Soon you will be in a new place.  But if you have the same old life in that place, then what?”

Last night, as I was sleeping,
I dreamt — marvelous error!—
that a spring was breaking
out in my heart.
I said: Along which secret aqueduct,
Oh water, are you coming to me,
water of a new life
that I have never drunk?

Last night, as I was sleeping,
I dreamt — marvelous error!—
that I had a beehive
here inside my heart.
And the golden bees
were making white combs
and sweet honey
from my old failures.

Last night, as I was sleeping,
I dreamt — marvelous error!—
that a fiery sun was giving
light inside my heart.
It was fiery because I felt
warmth as from a hearth,
and sun because it gave light
and brought tears to my eyes.

Last night, as I slept,
I dreamt — marvelous error!—
that it was God I had
here inside my heart.

I would normally have put a recitation of this poem here, but Robert Bly already has a great recitation, with gorgeous nature imagery to go along with it.

 

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Welcome to Mystery of Ascension! We are students and advocates of the the New Message from God. We are members of a worldwide community. We seek to assist the world in successfully navigating difficult times ahead. We seek to assist the world in successfully emerging into a greater community of intelligent life. You will also find some poetry. Find out more about us here. Contact us here.