Worker
Bees
“The
more we accomplish, the more we are expected to do. We take on more
responsibility, only to feel resentful of what we have promised. The
faster we go and the more we do, the sooner we forget what we love.
We misplace the things that truly nourish our deepest heart.”
Wayne
Muller (How Then Shall We Live)
Worker
bees are essential to the functioning of the hive. In their first few
days of life, they work inside the hive, tending the drones and the
queen. They build the comb from specialized structures in their
abdomen and rear the brood of future worker bees. After they have
aged a bit, they become field bees that go out and gather pollen,
water, nectar, and other food; they defend the hive and collect plant
resins used in its construction. They cool the hive in summer by
rapidly beating their wings and warm it in winter by clustering
around offspring to keep them warm. In short, they earn their name
every single day of their lives.
Some
of us, myself included, are worker bees. We work. That's what we do.
And as long as we love the work we do, it seems like a fine way to fill our
days. But it leaves little room for play, and in fact, sometimes we
forget how to play. Not only does it leave little space or capacity
for play, but our relationships suffer. And not only does dedication
to work leave no time for play and relationships, but our spiritual
life gets short shrift too. When is it that we ponder and pray; when
do we appreciate beauty and commune with the natural world? When is
it we refresh our own spirit?
Meister
Eckhart said it this way: “The spiritual life is not one of
addition, but rather of subtraction.” We cannot fill our days and
nights with work and more work and have emotional time and energy for
a robust life of spirit. Today is Sabbath; let us rest and be glad in
it.
In
the Spirit,
Jane
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