On a walk this weekend (enjoying the dry and cool hours while they lasted), my boys were discussing the life spans of different insects.
“I think a fly only lives three days!” one said.
“Oh, how I wish that were true,” I replied, “But it’s been more than three days that pesky Mr. Housefly has been journeying around our house teasing us with his speed and dexterity.”
My husband googled it quickly on his phone – “28 days!” he shouted back to us on the sidewalk. “Mayflies live only one.”
Man, I learn so much having three curious boys. Including that bees, the primary object of their attention these days, only live about 28 days. And of course, much less if they sting something.
I love how curious my boys are about bees. They know that bees have an incredibly important role in nature, and that excites them. They can’t get enough learning about these tiny creatures. Like, for instance, that the work of bees provides for one third of the world’s food supply. If you stop to think about it, it’s truly amazing that such a tiny little thing could be given such an incredibly important job in this world.
It makes me think if God gave the tiny bees such a large significance in our world, why do I hesitate to believe that God made me significant too?
I love these few lines from a longer Mary Oliver poem called Hum:
“The little worker bee lives, I have read, about three weeks.
Is that long?
Long enough, I suppose, to understand
that life is a blessing.”
My life is a blessing.
Your life is a blessing.
May today we be graced with the knowledge that we have a short time to make a large impact in this world – and that we have all the tools we need to do so.
After all, if a tiny bee has what it needs to feed the world…
