Liquid Gold as a Gift of Creation

The law of the Lord is perfect,
    reviving the soul;
the decrees of the Lord are sure,
    making wise the simple;
8 the precepts of the Lord are right,
    rejoicing the heart;
the commandment of the Lord is clear,
    enlightening the eyes;
9 the fear of the Lord is pure,
    enduring forever;
the ordinances of the Lord are true
    and righteous altogether.
10 More to be desired are they than gold,
    even much fine gold;
sweeter also than honey,
    and drippings of the honeycomb.

Psalm 19:7-10

I'll admit that I never saw the film Easy Rider, which starred a young Peter Fonda, who also produced it. The movie was low-budget but a huge hit and introduced us to Fonda, Dennis Hopper, and some guy named Jack Nicholson. Fonda didn't receive the acclaim that his father Henry did, nor that of his sister Jane, but he did well through the years. 

I was thinking of another, much later, Peter Fonda film called Ulee's Gold. Made in 1997 it is about a 50-something Viet Nam war vet and widower named Ulee Jackson who is a bee-keeper (honey is the gold in the title). It is a thoughtful story about both the solitary life, loneliness, and family, with a bit of suspense thrown in. We liked it a lot. 

It seems fitting that the day after Fonda died it is International Honeybee Day, not to be confused with International Bee Day which is earlier in the year. Of course you already knew that. I enjoyed my relatively brief stint as a beekeeper with a member of one of my congregations eons ago. We were fairly successful back in the days before a wicked range of pesticides decimated pollinators across North America. Without pollinators so many of the crops we demand on would fail, and only recently have countries awakened to the imperative of protecting these flying wonders. 



I read recently that flowers have a slightly negative charge compared to the air around them. Bees have a positive charge because of the friction of flying. When they land on a flower the pollen of the flower is attracted to the bees and, voila, it gets transferred to the next flower. The truly remarkable thing is that both flowers and bees know this, and they amp up their respective charges as the interaction takes place. Wondrous, don't you think? 
https://www.npr.org/2013/02/22/172611866/honey-its-electric-bees-sense-charge-on-flowers

Give a thought and perhaps a prayer for honeybees and all other pollinators today, as an essential aspect of the glorious web of Creation. And make sure you buy local honey!



An excellent documentary about bees