Bee Yourself

You can just about see the tiny white flowers near the top of the bush.

I spent some time the other day trying to trim back and tidy up some overgrown bushes at the bottom of the garden that had become a sort of mini forest.  It's a part of the garden that is mainly to make a natural barrier between our garden and the garden of the neighbours at the back of us.  So I like it to grow big and quite thick but it still needs the occasional 'haircut'.  While I was cutting away I noticed one bush had some tiny white flowers that I had never really noticed before.  They were so small that it is difficult to actually see them among all the foliage.  I couldn't help thinking that if that were a human they would possibly reason that hardly anyone ever goes to that part of the garden in the far corner at the back so why bother.  No-one would notice if it produced any flowers or not so what's the point?  But being a plant, it does just what it's designed to do.  Producing small flowers was something it just did in the annual cycle of life and it didn't depend on being noticed or appreciated.  It flowered anyway!

Taken from the BBC Springwatch Facebook page, 20th July 2014

We have heard much lately about the bees and how we need to look after them.  They are considered to be the most important pollinators of food crops.  It is thought that a third of the food we consume each day depends on pollination mainly by bees.  The inset picture shows some very interesting stats about bees and what they do.  We are encouraged to have a bee-friendly garden by planting the plants that will attract bees.  Local councils are encouraged to leave spare ground as wild meadows for bee-loving flowers to grow in the wild.  I was very interested to learn that bees don't actually go so much for the exotic types of flowers but are more drawn to the ordinary British flowers including most of the wild flowers.  It's really quite mind blowing to think that so much depends on such a small creature.  It doesn't have the size of an elephant, the fierce roar of a lion or the strength of a grizzly bear to make an impression.  It's so small that it flies from flower to flower without many noticing it at all.


The Bible verse comes to mind about how God uses the weak to confound the mighty and the well known story of the shepherd boy David defeating the giant Goliath.  The thing is that so often we look for success in size and strength.  You are taught from childhood that you have to climb the ladder of success at work.  People try to impress others by saying that their relative or close friend has such and such a position at work or a certain car or large house.  Some love to show off their suntan to give the impression (rightly or wrongly) that they have travelled to some far off land (implying a certain wealth?)  In many walks of life (even church life) there can be a sort of competition for popularity and trying to be more active and involved than someone else.  Some people spend their lives comparing themselves with others and aiming to copy them or be like them.  It gets to the point that often people can feel a bit of a failure for just being ordinary, with no particular talent to share.  They have a rather apologetic attitude and are always striving after some false goal to achieve in order to 'make something' of themselves.  Yet throughout the Bible and in creation God shows time and again how he loves the ordinary.  


The flower at the bottom of the garden just did what is was supposed to do.  The bee just gathers pollen and nectar to keep his extended family fed and surviving every day.  It doesn't know how important it is in the big scheme of things - it just does what it is meant to do each and every ordinary day.  And that is all that God asks of us.  He just wants me to be me.  He made me me because that was his plan and that is my purpose - just to be me.  If that entails just doing the ordinary, everyday things then that is what I should do.  Who knows in the big scheme of things what that might mean or lead to.  I might never know but that shouldn't stop me from being who God made me to be.  Even if you think you don't make a difference or nobody notices, like the tiny white flower, do it anyway.  No competing or comparing with others.  Just bee yourself!   

Talking My Language

This week I have watched a couple of absolutely fascinating programmes about 'talking to the animals'.  Through modern technology we are now able to decipher many of the noises made by animals.  Researchers have discovered that what they thought were simple grunts and shouts of (possibly) fear at the approach of some danger, are actual sounds relating to particular situations and the sounds change depending on the form of danger or situation - they are actual words in animalspeak.  Some creatures are even 'bilingual', understanding the particular sounds made by an entirely different species.  Other creatures that were thought to make no sound at all but only gestures have been found to use sounds that the human ear cannot hear.  I won't bore you with all the details of all the discoveries (if you missed it and are interested, you can catch up on BBCiPlayer) but I will mention the amazing Honey Guide bird that has conversations with the people of the Masai Mara.  The bird knows the exact spot of the bee hive but can't retrieve the honey because of all the bees - their stings would prove fatal for such a small bird - but it knows that the men of the Masai Mara have ways of getting to the honeycomb.  The bird communicates with the tribesmen with a particular call that is used only for the purpose of contacting humans.  The men call back with the same call and follow the bird until it leads them to the hive.  They get the honeycomb which they then share with the bird by way of a 'thank you'.  Amazing!  We talk about 'dumb animals' but it seems that the ones who have been dumb are us humans in believing that they can't and don't communicate with other creatures within their own species and with those of other species.

We can look at some people and judge them to be a bit OTT and noisy when they might actually be hiding behind a front to disguise the deep loneliness that is their reality.  Someone who can appear stand-offish and keeping themselves at a distance might really be afraid of getting too close to someone.  They may have been hurt too many times in the past and now don't trust either their own judgment or the words of anyone else.  They just don't want to go through the experience of being judged or misunderstood yet again so they prefer not to mix too much.  If someone is a bit grumpy, they might not be bad tempered but be feeling taken for granted and unappreciated when all they want to do is strive to please those around them.  So taking a tip from the research into animal speak, maybe we should listen carefully to the sounds instead of judging too quickly.  Why are they the way they are?  Why do they say the things they say?  What do the sounds and actions really mean?

When we say that someone is talking our language, what we mean is that they understand where we're coming from.  They not only hear the sound of our words but know exactly what we mean.  We feel that they can relate to us in a way that goes deeper than sound.  Befriending in this way takes time and effort.  The programmes took 2 hours to share with the general public but the actual research has taken years.  An article can be read in a few minutes or a sermon can be preached in half an hour (some more, some less) but really getting to know and understand a person's deep longings and needs takes much longer.  It takes observation, continuous contact and a willingness to really listen, not just to the words that are spoken but also to what is not said.  People are often silently crying out in their pain, loneliness and unhappiness but how often we just hear words but don't understand their language.  They are in need for someone to talk their language, know what makes them tick and understand what they are really communicating.  

This is not done through big gatherings but on one-to-one.  It is possible to talk to a load of people all at the same time but really getting to know them and what they are saying is a different ballgame.  You can sit in the garden or the park and listen to all the bird songs but identifying each individual bird and knowing what each separate call signifies is completely different.  It is comforting, refreshingly reassuring and in a sense liberating when someone knows exactly what you mean, when they talk your language.  Listening and not just hearing, seeking to understand instead of dismissing out of hand, that's the key to learning another language.  I pray for a world full of linguists. 

Live Now

This week my nephew shared on Facebook a photo of his 4 year old son, Oliver looking very smart and all grown-up in his new school uniform ready for when he starts school in September.  Time seems to have just whizzed by since he was born.  I remember holding him when he was only a few days old.  He was so tiny and fragile and now suddenly he's off to school!  His first tooth, his first step, his first word are all now just memories.  He now chats away and absorbs new information all the time.  He seems to know things about how things work and which button to press, things that take me a while to assimilate.  On seeing his photo, many memories came back of my own children also and how each precious moment soon becomes a memory.  It was a sharp reminder for me to cherish the present and live now to the full. 



Of course not all memories are so pleasurable.  Some leave scars and hurt but all are incorporated and woven into the tapestry of our lives and go to make us the people we now are today.  I wouldn't be the person I now am if I hadn't had the rough as well as the smooth.  But all experiences good or not so good can leave us some worthwhile lesson.  You never really learn patience if you've never had to wait for anything.  You don't learn about hope until you feel down.  Having to live without something helps us to learn the real value and appreciate what we do have.  Remembering the past is not really the problem.  The real problem is when we keep dragging the past into the present.  What has gone cannot be changed.  It has contributed to who we are today so be thankful for it and let it go.  All we have is the now.  That is why we need to enjoy the now to the full because it will soon become another memory. 


There are those who are always hankering after some future excitement or big thing.  They spend time (and often a lot of money) going from one big conference or gathering to another and totally miss the point that God is right where we are, here and now.  We don't need to go looking for him, hoping that if we can get to that big meeting, He'll show up and bless us.  We are the temple of God and He resides in us.  Where we are, He is.  Not everyone can write like J K Rowling or J R R Tolkien.  Only a few people have actually reached the moon.  It would be a dysfunctional business if all the staff were managing directors.  Who would actually make the goods or clean the premises?  It is good to have dreams and ambitions but some miss so much because their minds are on something else, always striving.  Wherever we are and whatever we do in life, God is in us and shows Himself to others through us.  Theodore Roosevelt gave some very sound advice when he said, 'Do what you can with what you have where you are'.

Today is a gift - use it and fill it so that  tomorrow you will have beautiful memories.  Look around you whatever your circumstances and find something to make you smile.  Our children may be grown and left home already, or maybe you don't have any.  You can still fill your today in such a way that in the future you can look back and smile.  God's will is for us to live life to the full.  Here's to a future full of happy memories.

What If ... ... ?

What if... ... ?  This is a question often asked in the UK when trying to arrange some outing or inviting friends to a BBQ in the summer - what if it rains?  We always feel the need to make some other arrangements just in case the weather is not on our side that particular day.  It's not just the weather of course that involves thinking of contingency plans in the event that our ideas and organising skills don't go to plan.


Because of the winter storms and the problem with the tiles on the roof of our house and the subsequent leak (as mentioned in previous posts) we have had to deal with a little problem of damp in one of the bedrooms.  It was only one wall that was affected and so we really decided that a couple of tester pots of paint of the same colour would work out cheaper than buying a larger pot.  I really didn't want to have to buy a 5 litre pot of paint to paint just one small wall.  It was a well known brand and so we thought that we would be able to get it easily.  We did raise the question 'What if ...   we can't get a matching colour?  What will we do?'  We carefully considered alternatives - that wall could become a feature wall of a contrasting colour or we could just paint all of the bedroom walls a different colour.  As it turned out it wasn't that easy but eventually we did manage to get what we were looking for, after trying a few DIY stores. So the wall has been restored to its former condition.

This week I read an article about someone who had been part of the set up at Mars Hill mega-church based in Seattle.  The church now has 14,000 members in 15 locations in 5 states.  The article quoted something Mark Driscoll, one of the co-founders of the church, said.

Mark Driscoll

'What if the church (referring to Mars Hill church) stopped growing?  What if we shrunk?  What if everything fell apart?  What if half the staff left?  Would I still worship Jesus or would I be a total despairing mess?'

I am not interested in discussing mega-churches or anything about Mark Driscoll.  Some like him and his books and some don't but I kept thinking about this quote.  What if ......?  


Many cannot understand people like me who no longer participate in any organised form of church yet still claim to be just as sincere in their faith and commitment to God.  Once you really get hold of the truth that God really is everywhere, that the Holy Spirit dwells within us and that the Kingdom is here with us now, then there really is no problem.  Last year, after two and a half years of being unemployed my son (who shares the house with me) got a job where his working hours include every weekend - Friday, Saturday and Sunday.  So our weekend is now on a Monday and Tuesday.  On Tuesday we have a full roast dinner, sit together to eat, watch a DVD together and chat, often about spiritual things.  Our time together on our 'Sunday' is possibly more relaxed than for many who attend some place of worship.  We spend real time together, chilling and chatting - our day of rest. 



The danger lies when people think that the organised church way of doing things is the only way and that without it they would be lost.  What if ... ... ? illness meant that you could no longer go to the building? you had no means of getting there? (here in Yeovil there are no buses on a Sunday and not everyone has their own transport) you had a job where working on a Sunday was a requirement?  or many more 'what if?' situations you might think of.  Like Mark Driscoll asks - would you still worship or would you be a despairing mess?  The organised church for many is a very helpful means of connecting with God and others but there is the danger that the means actually becomes the end in itself.  And then the worship is not so much about God but about the system, the means that we use to connect with Him.  Jesus would meet people in their homes or in the countryside all the time more than in the synagogue on the Sabbath.  He would talk to anyone and everyone regardless or status, gender, nationality or work and not just Jews who conformed to religious rules and expectations.  His friends were from many varied walks of life, different personalities.  How many Christians have close friendships with people who are not within the church set up?  He worshipped his Father in the everyday things, using them as illustrations in his conversations about God and Kingdom things.  He showed us how to worship God and not the system.  What if ... ... for whatever reason we were denied the church system as we know it today, what if .. ... the whole system crumbled, would we still be Christians?  Would we still make time for God, connect with Him and follow His ways?  What if ... ... we understood that God still exists outside of the system and that He's just as real and loving and wanting a relationship with us?  What if ... ... once again He ripped the 'curtain of the temple' and chose to show Himself outside of the confines of the religious building?  Who would follow Him?  We must not replace God with the religious system, however helpful it may be - it is not the be all and end all of things.  The system is not God, only a means to God, only one path of many.