Turtle Rock Farm

Diakonia, in Greek, means “service.”
Too, it is the name of a world-wide organization
of deaconesses, home missioners, home missionaries, deacons.
We met last week for our world assembly
at Georgia Tech in Atlanta, Georgia.
Around 300 people from 34 countries
gathered together to share stories, listen to speakers,
express concerns, get to know each other, learn, sing, pray
and tour ministries around Atlanta.

I come away with strong impressions:
there are people everywhere who care deeply,
sacrificially,
about the poor, the suffering, the unjustly treated;
working in community is essential;
people love their own cultures
(and are not trying to emulate that of the U.S.);
diversity is beautiful, enlightening, inspirational;
we can learn from each other;
we can get along.

As a United Methodist Deaconess,
I am fortunate enough to be part of this community
and to lead one of the workshops at the assembly.
People from several countries joined me in taking a walk,
the “cosmic walk,”
through the story of the creation of the universe
during these some 14 billion years.
And then we shared our insights from this experience.
Out of various cultures,
various denominations
our experiences of being in touch with God’s good creation
were universal:
here, there is care;
here, we must care.

Home Again

Many days away
in the city
conferencing,
teaching.
Good days,
in community
teaching about creation,
living lighter.

I return gladly
to the farm,
the prairie,
to rainy night,
cool day.
It is quiet.
At first light
I hear the birds,
and then, all day.
Breeze rings the wind chime
and dries traveling clothes
hanging on the porch now.

I settle in to the quiet again
and realize
that even if no one ever benefits
from my teaching,
being here in the quiet
on the prairie,
consciously aware of life in the natural world,
is good and necessary work.
For we are all connected
and so my being in nature -
hearing the rain
feeling the breeze
feeding the hummingbird
shoveling paca poo
loving the dog
watching the sun and sky
marveling at the delicacy and brightness of orange flowers -
helps us all
be aware,
even if at an unconscious level,
of the sun, the birds, the sky, the flowers, the air, the four-leggeds.
It’s something I hadn’t realized before now.
Living more consciously of the natural world
has become a way of life.
And holding that
for all
has become valued work.

Busy Bees

Silence of the Bees was on OETA “Nature” last night.

(You can watch the complete episode at PBS.org.)

It was a very informative show about CCD – Colony Collapse Disorder.

No one knows what is causing it, but they don’t believe there is just one cause.

Several factors may play a role -

monoculture crops,

pesticides,

a disease like HIV in the bees,

weak queens.

Most bees are commercial now.

They are trucked across the country to pollinate

the oranges in Florida,

the apples in Pennsylvania,

the blueberries in Maine.

More than half of all bees go to California

to pollinate the almonds.

There is concern that in a few years there won’t be enough

bees to pollinate all the almonds.

The US has lost over 800 thousand hives.

By 2035 we may not have bees

in the US at all.

One third of what we eat is pollinated by bees.

My friend, Everett has been raising bees

in Oklahoma for over 70 years.

He says this year is the craziest year he has ever seen.

When I checked my bees this morning, I am afraid one of the hives

is without a queen. There is honey, but I don’t see any eggs.

Bees only live a few weeks, so queens lay over a thousand

eggs a day to keep the population up.

There are things we can do to help the bees:

Become a backyard bee keeper.

Join a local Association of Beekeepers to learn more.

Plant an organic garden with a variety of flowers and vegetables.

Don’t use pesticides.

Give the bees a voice by asking your federal and state legislatures to support bee research.

The bees are working hard, but they need our help.