“Next I’ll speak about the celestial gift of honey from the air.” Virgil.
Many of you know that Virgil was a poet from 70 – 19 BCE. He was thought by some to be Rome’s greatest poet. He wrote a classic about the founding of Rome, the Aeneid.
I like him because he also wrote about bees and was a keen observer of nature. Many of you know I am a beekeeper, or at least I try to be. For 13 years I have enjoyed honeybees in my back yard. And because of their influence in my life, I think I have gained enough insight to correct Virgil’s statement.
No, the bees don’t get honey from the air. They obviously get honey from the sun. Every day when I pour some honey on bagel or oatmeal, I am reminded of the sweet taste of sunshine. You know the taste, like tasting those wild strawberries in early summer, the raspberries in July, and then the blueberries in August, and finally biting into an apple fresh from the tree on a sunny autumn day. You can taste the sunshine.
Each one of those fruits needed a bee! And in exchange, each one of those blossoms gave the bee the nectar we love as honey. It is the sun, I just know it.
I was watching wax melt the other day as I made some beeswax candles. It is a very slow process. It is so slow that it is a perfect time to listen to good music and think. I thought about how the bees need the warmth of the sun as they produce the comb that will store their honey and protect their young.
Beekeepers take the cappings from the honeycomb to make their candles. As the wax liquefies in the melter, it gives off the sweet, warm smell of flowers and honey. And after it is poured into the mold to become the candle, it will provide a warm, welcoming, pure light.
Many people are enjoying candles in this season of dark northern nights. And each candle flame is a little reminder of the sun, which made it all possible.
Those are not the only things bees get from the sun, they also get joy. I know I am going off the deep end of anthropomorphizing but join me on a sunny day next summer by the entrance to the hive, and I’ll show you joy.
On a sunny day in summer, the bees seem to dance and sway in front of the hive before they fly off to find the sweet nectar they need. On sunny days they don’t seem to notice me as I move among them and even enter the hive myself. They seem so content, even excited by the sunlight.
I know the difference the sun can make. Indeed I do, for I have visited the hive on cloudy days, and gone home with angry stings.
Well, you know me, I am not just a beekeeper, I am also a pastor, at least I try to be. And so this article was bound to find a metaphor in the hive for our lives of faith.
This Sunday, the last of Advent, in churches across the land Mary’s “Magnificat” will be sung, “My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord, my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.” (Luke 1:46) Mary’s song leads us into Christmas and points us to the manger and the “promise made to our forebears forever.”
The manger and the holy child therein exquisitely portrays God’s presence in our midst. On Christmas Eve we will be singing Joseph Mohr’s poem from 1818 “Silent Night, Holy Night! Son of God, love’s pure light.”
Candles will be glowing as we sing and our hearts will feel so good as we repeat, “radiant beams from thy holy face, with the dawn of redeeming grace.” We know the difference the Son makes!
My honeybee hives may teach me about their dependence upon the sun just so I know my own joyous dependence upon God. In Christ, we find spiritual nourishment, in Christ there is light to brighten our darkness, in Christ there is joy.
As we gather in countless sanctuaries on Christmas, we will be celebrating the source of all that we need and enjoy. It is the Son, I just know it. Blessed Christmas to you all.
Each month a member of the Cook County Ministerium will offer Spiritual Reflections. This month our contributor is Reverend Mark Ditmanson of Bethlehem Lutheran Church in Grand Marais.
Leave a Reply