Thank You.
What the Honeybee Knows
Today I rest in the blueness of a sky
graced with clouds, unhurried.
I rejoice in the honeysuckle scent
seeping into my skin, sweet
in its insistence upon bees
and their hallowed labor.
(Listen)
“There is a time,” they say, “For everything.”
A time for busying and a time for ceasing.
A time for pollinating and a time for feasting;
A time to hover and a time to land.
Enough time for loving all that matters,
Time enough to release what does not.
(Let go)
If you wish to change your life, you must learn
To cradle the world between your two hands
As a honeybee with her single flower,
As a lover touches her beloved--
Tenderly, and with great desire
To feed and be fed, to give and be forgiven.
(Live)
I wrote this week’s poem in a time of quiet in which I was able to observe the busy bees outside my window, singular in their intent of sweetening and blossoming the world, one flower at a time.
In a way, I suppose this blog is my way of trying to speak beauty and life into the world around me—of learning to love the world and all its complexity, one face and story at a time.
This week marks six months since I began sharing my writing through Behold. Because of the gift of your readership, this season of writing regularly has been one of the most profound and enduring joys I have ever known.
Whether you have read my blog once or multiple times, thank you.
Know that I have cherished every word of encouragement and insight you’ve given along the way.
Your kindness and faithfulness in responding with how God is speaking to you motivates me to keep pressing in, discovering more and more of the Kingdom as we journey together.
*
Back in January, I was terrified to start a blog, although it was something I had wanted do for a long time.
What if no one read it?
What if people did read, but didn’t care about what I had to say?
What if I just couldn’t do it?
What if I ran out of words?
That same month, God brought a group of wise and gifted writers into my life who each expressed a desire to embark upon the writing journey in community. These five women have given me the support and accountability I need to stay on a path that is often lonely and frustrating. Along with you, they have helped me attune to the voice of truth over the voice of fear.
As much as I’ve tried to live like I can paddle my own canoe, I have learned it is a gift to have other people in the boat with you, striving towards a common goal, weathering waves and storms together.
What I thought was going to be a solo endeavor has blossomed into a rich community I didn’t know I needed. Isn’t it just like God to surprise us with what we didn’t know we needed at exactly the right time?
So, thank you. Thank you for being in the boat with me. You are part of what redemption and grace looks like in my life. If there is any way I can better serve you through my writing, please do let me know.
*
I chose the word “Behold” as a name for the space that holds my words from a cherished verse that has seen me through difficult times of darkness and despair:
Behold, I am doing a new thing;
now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?
I will make a way in the wilderness
and rivers in the desert.
(Isaiah 43:19)
In the most impossible and dry places, God says, “Look for the new thing I am doing, the path I am making even when you cannot perceive it. Trust that I will provide all the nourishment you need for the journey I have set before you.”
Beloved of God, here’s to opening our eyes wide with wonder, beholding all the ways God is making us new.
(Let it be so)