Blossoms and Bumblebees

Last Wednesday, in a piece entitled “Pollen,” we reflected in this blog on the blossoms that covered the trees around the Temple and Auditorium with white, fragrant blossoms. We discussed how the pollen from those flowers was, at the same time, the fertilization of new life and an irritant for the eyes of many beholders, like the pollination of new ideas.

Today, just a short week later, the blossoms are all but gone. Most have been replaced by green leaves, and the aged white petals lie golden on the ground below the trees.

The flowers that do remain on the trees seem to have attracted the interest of a number of bumblebees. There seems to have developed an urgency to flit from bloom to bloom, gathering pollen while they can. Indeed, the flight of these creatures seems to be almost frantic in its intensity. It reminds me of the opening stanza of the poem by Robert Herrick, entitled To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time.

Gather ye rosebuds while ye may,
Old Time is still a-flying;
And this same flower that smiles today,
Tomorrow will be dying.

The hurried flight of the bumblebees and the dying of the flowers speak to me. Life is short; something I am increasingly aware of as I get older and time seems to speed up. The passage of time gives rise to a sense of urgency. We have only a limited amount of time to gather pollen, and use it to produce a crop of the fruit that is so needed in our world. We want our lives to count for something, and to leave a legacy for those who follow after.

May our lives be blessed with fruitfulness, and may we pay attention to the blossoms while they are in bloom.

Posted by Carman

BOLDLY!

For those of us who are somewhat quiet and reserved, yesterday’s worship theme, “Speak Boldly,” raises a challenging dilemma. Yesterday was one of those unusual Sundays when I was not preaching anywhere, so got to listen to a lovely homily on this very subject. The speaker began by admitting that he is, by nature, somewhat timid and perhaps a little shy, and not given to speaking boldly. This quiet, self-contained man is just the kind of faithful worker that over the years I have grown to respect and admire. There are many such people. They know what being in relationship with God has done for them and can do for others, but they are not forward in speaking that truth to others. Such people are not being hypocritical or spiritually lazy. Its not that they don’t care; it is just that they are quiet, respectful people who are reluctant to push their views on anybody else. There is a lot to be said for that, and yet there are many people who are starving for the spiritual food such people have stored up in the pantries of their lives. For quiet people, this is a real quandary.

Yet our silence has a price; perhaps one that is being paid by others. Recently I met a man who came into contact with the Community of Christ, and found it an amazing blessing. He was profoundly grateful for what it brought to his life. Not long after finding this new spiritual home, he attended church and met a lady who worked in the same office as he. This was someone he had known for a years, and he was startled to learn that she was also a member. His surprise quickly turned to anger, and he said to her, “You mean you have known about this wonderful thing all this time and never told me?”

I wonder, are there people in my community who long for the food that is stored in my spiritual pantry? Are there in yours?