by Emily Huff
“To raise awareness of the importance of pollinators, the threats they face and their contribution to sustainable development, the UN designated 20 May as World Bee Day.”
When I signed up to share something for this day, our country had not yet seen “murder hornets” in the headlines. We now know that these murder hornets have come to the US and could be a threat to honeybees (along with pesticides and other challenges they already face) which are vital to our agriculture. This reveals the complexity of the ecosystems in which we live and the interconnectedness our world is built upon.
In honor of this day, I wanted to share a prayer from one of my favorite books of liturgies called Every Moment Holy. I think you will see how this prayer is certainly a blessing for the bees, but it is also a blessing for us all today to notice the world around us, to see the delicate balance needed in creation for sustainability and to hear the call to take care of the world God has given us.
A LITURGY FOR THE
Keeping of Bees
Together: We thank you, O God, for the blessing of bees,
Leader: for the wonder of their work,
for the sweetness of their offerings,
and the delight of their harvest.
People: We thank you, O God, for the industry of the hive,
which is like a picture of the kingdom of heaven, always
at work, in ten million places unseen.
We thank you too for the small
comedy of the creatures,
for the humor of their constant severity,
for the buzz and the bumbling of bees
in flight, for the sight of bees bending
slender stalks to harvest in the blooms,
their feet shod in bristling boots of gold,
their backs fuzzed with bright yellow dust
that is the color of joy made visible.
So varied are your creatures, O God!
So wise your creations!
For the blessing of bees we thank you:
for their bright and varied stripes,
for the wisdom of their queen,
and for the potent sting you have
granted them to guard the life of the hive
against the harms of a nature now
fallen and hostile.
We thank you for imbuing them with
an ingenuity of architecture
to build the perfect geometry of the comb,
a golden cathedral that cannot be
accounted an accident.
We thank you, O God,
For the miracle of bees in their labors,
For their tireless industry-
May it inspire us to serve;
for their generosity-
may we also produce enough to share.
Bless these, your creatures,
Which you have given into the service
of your image bearers.
May they be fruitful.
Bless these, your creatures,
May their honey be plentiful and sweet.
May they find in fields of clover and wild
bloom a bountiful harvest of nectars,
that we might gladly share the abundance
of their labors, delighting in
the sustenance and small pleasures you
have provided us through them.
Bless these bees, O God,
and bless their keepers.
For all creatures are yours, bee
and keeper alike. Together may
our co-labors resound
to your praise and glory.
Amen.
Every Moment Holy, by Douglas Kaine McKelvey, www.EveryMomentHoly.com