On
All Saints Sunday this congregation lights candles in honour of those who have
died over the past year. We acknowledge that grief is a process that does not
end when the funeral or burial is over. These candles with their flickering flames remind
us of those we loved, represent peace and comfort in the midst of sadness, and guide
hearts to turn to hope and joy.
I
can’t imagine celebrating today without candles.
Church
candles are of a special variety; they contain beeswax. Altar candles are often
100% beeswax, while Paschal candles, like the big candle by the baptism font, are
51% beeswax.
When
thinking of saints, many of us immediately think of capital ‘S’ saints. These
are the Saints that are famous, having been sainted by the Pope: St. Peter, St.
Paul…
This
week as I as preparing candles, I wondered if there was a Patron Saint of beekeepers,
bees, candlemakers. Come to find out there
isn’t A patron Saint, there are many: St. Godait an Irish saint, St. Valentine,
St. Bernard of Clairvaux, St. Benedict, St. Kharlamil, St. Bartholomew, and St.
Ambrose. These Saints were known for various skills related to beekeeping: food
in the form of honey or mead, wax for candle making and other uses, and honey
used in medicine.
My
favourite story is of St. Ambrose, who as an infant is said to have had his
face covered by a swarm of bees, some tellings say the bees were in his
mouth--- he was not stung by the bees. When the bees left, they deposited a
drop of honey on his face. Ambrose’s dad believed this to be a sign that
Ambrose would grow to have a gift of a ‘honeyed tongue.’ He did grow to be a
preacher and teacher, words sweet on his tongue.
Today
we are not remembering capital ‘S’ saints. We remember little ‘s’ saints.
Regular people.
It
is the ‘regular’ that has astounding importance.
Consider,
where would the big ‘S’ saints mentioned earlier be without the bees. Bees are
little ‘s’ saints, mighty saints that the world cannot do without. The 40000
species of bees in the world pollinate an estimated 1/3 of all food. In 2014
the honeybee contributed $15 million to the US economy. Only 500 species live
in colonies, the rest go about being, minding their own beeswax.
Bees
are the only insect that make food for humans. Get this, a bee makes 1/12th
of a tsp. of honey in its lifetime. Yes, you heard that right, 1/12th
of a tsp in a lifetime.
How
many of you like honey? Included in my breakfast most mornings, is toast with
honey on it. If I have one tsp. of honey that is the life work of 12 bees.
Bees
are the saints! There is nothing ‘little’ about them.
When
I look at the list of beloved people we are remembering today, there was
nothing ‘little’ about them. The ones I personally knew made great
contributions to the world around them and touched the lives of many. Their
stories imparted lived knowledge and the sharing of themselves warmed our
hearts. For the most part, we are who we are, or are a better version of
ourselves for having known them. I am sure that this is true for all the ‘little
s’ saints mentioned this morning– otherwise we wouldn’t be here or take time to
remember and honour them.
In
Sunday School I loved when we received stickers. The stickers I remember with
fondness were BEE stickers; a series of big bright smiling bees with a phrase
that started with Bee (spelled B.E.E), Bee kind, Bee loyal, Bee honest, Bee
happy, Bee thankful. They went right along with the passage from scripture
known as the Beatitudes; we heard one version of them earlier from the Gospel
of Luke. By definition, the Beatitudes, are the blessings listed in the reading,
however, I have always understood the beatitudes to BE descriptive of a way of
life – Be God’s kindom, Be God’s hands; BE love, be giving, be a blessing.
The
book of Proverbs (16: 24) has a saying: pleasant words are honeycomb, sweet
to the soul and healing to the bones.
I
think about the bees that make the honey I put on my toast. Their honeycomb is
sweet – it feeds me, it is healing – helping me cope with pollens I am allergic
too. Honey is pleasant. What if the words we read, the words we use, the words
we share, the words with which we bless others are the honey we share with the
world – sweet to the soul and healing to the bones – our own soul and bones, and
the soul and bones of those around us too. I think of St. Ambrose who had a
honeyed tongue; can the world drip in sweetness because of our words.
We
could add a new sticker - a new beatitude: bee pleasant. bee sweet.
Proverbs
(24:13-14) also says: eat honey for it is good for you…sweet to your taste.
Know also that wisdom is like honey for you: if you find it, there is a future
of hope for you, and your hope will never be cut off.
Bee
wise. Bee hope.
I
don’t know about you, but there are times when I look at the world and I get
discouraged. I think about what I have contributed, what communities I belong
to have contributed, and I wonder if the contributions to the common good, bringing
God’s kindom, have been in vain, or if sweetness has been added and made a
difference. The story of the bees -little s saints- has helped me. I think
about the number of bees whose life’s work it took for honey for one piece of
toast; their work made a difference. It made a difference to my day. It made a
difference to my well-being. It made a difference to all the plants that those
bees pollinated, who because of those bees were able to produce fruit and
vegetables, that fed many others.
Like
the bees, we have no idea how far reaching our individual contributions go for
the common good. This wisdom is like
honey for me – there is a future of hope.
Let
us continue in the task of living as little s saints, taking with us the
sweetness of those who have gone before us, consciously spreading pleasant words,
and living lives faithfully dedicated to BEing.
May
we pollinate the world -feeding those who are hungry.
We
are saints! There is nothing little about us, so go…
Be
love. Be a blessing.
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