Western honey bees are not native to North America, but like so many immigrants, they have proved their worth. They help pollinate many crops, not to mention the wildflowers and the many flowering plants with which we beautify our yards. According to the U.S. Geological Survey, one honey bee colony “can gather about 40 pounds of pollen and 265 pounds of nectar” annually. Here in the south, much of the honey that pollen and nectar converts into ends up on our biscuits. Simple pleasure! Truly our lives flow with milk and honey. Give thanks.

I know nothing in the world that has as much power as a word. sometime I write one, and I look at it, until it begins to shine. –Emily Dickinson

The Israelites are angry and quarrelsome. They imagine–irrationally?–that they might have been better off staying in slavery in Egypt. Freedom can be such a pain…. In frustration, Moses and Aaron “fall on their faces” before divine authority, seeking relief for their suffering people. And relief comes, in the form of life-giving water from out of stone. Oh, that today we would be baptized by waters of Meribah.

Be like the sun for grace and mercy. Be like the night to cover others’ faults. Be like running water for generosity. Be like death for rage and anger. Be like the Earth for modesty. Appear as you are. Be as you appear. –Rumi

A butterfly newly emerged from its chrysalis must wait patiently for its wings to dry. The same is true of dragonflies, but they emerge from a naiad, which is an exoskeleton they occupy while living in the water eating voraciously in order to turn into the winged jewels we see darting about grabbing mosquitoes and flies out of the air. And while they wait patiently for their wings to dry, butterflies and dragonflies are extremely vulnerable. In both cases they have come out of a protective “shell” of sorts but cannot employ their primary mode of defense from being preyed…