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When I was seventeen and sharing a farm house outside of Kitchener with some other people, I was introduced to bee-keeping by Paul Puddy. In the thirty years since, Paul has grown into a master of that craft - and besides. And I have learned much more about bees, honey and related matters. Bees make honey. They travel great distances in order to extract pollen, then process it within themselves and deliver it to the hive to feed young and old alike, bees of every stripe, size and function. The life and well-being of heap and hive depend upon this precious substance; a substance which only they can produce for themselves. People are somewhat more complicated. But I am convinced that the human animal goes to even greater lengths and detail to collect substances (minerals, vitamins, water, fruit, meat, etc.) necessary for the human honey. We call it love. Love is widely regarded as the highest and purest form of energy produced in and by people, easily overshadowing kinetic (physical movement) energy, emotional or intellectual energy, or anything we produce in ourselves or with the tools we create (e.g. - atomic, electric, etc.). And love has interesting qualities and characteristics: it can move people to great achievement and feats of strength, courage or creation. There is a wonderful and pure magic in this non-substantial stuff that we make. Without this pure essence of all we consume, people wither and die. They are rendered vulnerable and can be crippled. We are made to manufacture it, and we need it in order to function properly; we need lots of it to function to our optimum. I suspect that everyone knows how to hurt others. Few know how to be kind. I know that to provide others with the love they need is an act of kindness. Sadly few people acknowledge or recognize this need properly, nor do they know how to produce and distribute it in large doses. Making love can be a humiliating and difficult process. Delivering it can be even more difficult and/or humiliating. The Greeks of old recognized three kinds of this stuff: that which is exchanged between a man and woman; that exchanged between parents and children and that between siblings. These kinds of love can be extended to others who fit the type...friends, mentors, et cetera. In the New Testament Greek manuscripts another type was introduced into language and culture (bees live in cultures). It’s termed agape and indicates the love between God and humanity/humans, and is the prime model for the manufacture and distribution of this invisible yet powerful stuff in all its forms and functions. Most people seek in vain for happiness, satisfaction and fulfillment. My suspicion is that this vanity is largely due to a kind of undernourishment that results from an insufficiency of love. Add love to most people’s lives and there is an instant transformation from meaninglessness to joy, pleasure and satisfaction. But just as people do not know how to manufacture the “stuff”, so they also are rendered incapable of receiving or accepting it; much as someone who is deaf cannot hear the sonic vibrations commonly heard by others. Being loved, like hearing, is quite a natural and integral part of being human. In fact love can and does create or inspire integrity in a human being - somehow it makes us whole and sound. True justice for this lofty subject can only be given by a poet. The poet seems to live entirely on love, is well-acquainted with it, knows where to find it, collect it, accumulate it, how to process it and apply it to the wounded soul. Prophets also give us insight into its properties and show us where to find it. “There is a balm in Gilead.” Love’s effect upon human beings is profound. It transforms this world from a flat, fleshly, biological, empirical clump into a rich, spiritual and meaningful whole. It generates excitement in the heart & soul, intelligence in the mind, ignites the imagination so that visions and desires burn with clarity, and it moves the will to act and fulfill the desires of the heart. Love makes us more ambitious, more competent, and just plain more. It enriches us and others. Love is the sweet honey of human existence, produced by us and for us through the processing of divergent materials and non-materials from every corner of existence. It is the sweet melody which moves our steps in meaningful fashion through the minefields of human life. This honey dispels fear and insecurity and anxiousness. The only possible fear that could remain in the face of love would be of the loss of it. Yet love has proven eternal and indestructible. So we need not fear. In my own life experience freedom has been of the highest order of value. And life regularly demonstrates to me that love has properties that set us free both within and without. Thereby we are enabled to realize our potential and find peace. Herein lay some of the components of genuine human liberty - a liberty which cannot be confined, cannot be destroyed or stolen. External freedom proceeds from internal freedom. Love shows us the path of freedom and strengthens us to break the fetters that hold us from it. The Bible tells us that “God is love”. Faith and experience and the testimony of others all substantiate this claim. This being so, it follows that having God in our life will readily meet a large part of our need and appetite for love. Having the indwelling love of God’s Holy Spirit in our heart also sets right the mechanisms that produce or channel and distribute the stuff. Conversely it also enables us to receive it from others. We can and do grow more able in the sharing and receiving of it. Jake Willis Guelph, Ontario, Canada February 28, 2000 10:00 a.m. @ |