The Example of Bees

Tonight we had an excellent Relief Society meeting with the sisters in my ward. March is the month we celebrate the "birthday" of Relief Society and for tonights "birthday party" they focused it around the talk given by Elder M. Russell Ballard called Be Anxiously Engaged, in which he relates bees to members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

Elder Holland first gives some interesting facts about bees and honey-

1) Honey is one of nature’s most beneficial foods. In fact, nutritionists tell us it is one of the foods that includes all the substances—enzymes, vitamins, minerals, and water—necessary to sustain life.

2) A colony consists of approximately 60,000 bees.

3) Honeybees are driven to pollinate, gather nectar, and condense the nectar into honey. It is their magnificent obsession imprinted into their genetic makeup by our Creator. It is estimated that to produce just one pound (0.45 kg) of honey, the average hive of 20,000 to 60,000 bees must collectively visit millions of flowers and travel the equivalent of two times around the world.

4) Over its short lifetime of just a few weeks to four months, a single honeybee’s contribution of honey to its hive is a mere one-twelfth of one teaspoon. Though seemingly insignificant when compared to the total, each bee’s one-twelfth of a teaspoon of honey is vital to the life of the hive.

Elder Holland than relates how we can be like these driven and dedicated little bees. The following are quotes from his talk and they correlate with the numbers above.

1) Just as "honey contains all of the substances necessary to sustain mortal life...the doctrine and gospel of Christ is the only way (for man) to obtain eternal life."

2) Today we have over 15,000,000 members worldwide.

3) Just as bees are driven to pollinate and contribute to their ultimate cause of making honey, so should we be driven to our "ultimate" cause of bringing souls unto Christ.  "Great things are brought about and burdens are lightened through the efforts of many hands “anxiously engaged in a good cause” (D&C 58:27). Imagine what the millions of Latter-day Saints could accomplish in the world if we functioned like a beehive in our focused, concentrated commitment to the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ. Imagine what good we can do in the world if we all join together, united as followers of Christ, anxiously and busily responding to the needs of others and serving those around us—our families, our friends, our neighbors, our fellow citizens."

4) "We read of the service Church members provide around the world and especially the humanitarian service given in times of crisis—fires and floods and hurricanes and tornadoes. These much-needed and much-appreciated emergency responses should certainly continue as a way of bearing one another’s burdens. But what about our everyday lives? What would be the cumulative effect of millions of small, compassionate acts performed daily by us because of our heartfelt Christian love for others? ...These simple, daily acts of service may not seem like much in and of themselves, but when considered collectively they become just like the one-twelfth teaspoon of honey contributed by a single bee to the hive." He also says, "like the little honeybee’s one-twelfth teaspoon of honey provided to the hive, if we multiply our efforts by tens of thousands, even millions of prayerful efforts to share God’s love for His children through Christian service, there will be a compounding effect of good that will bring the Light of Christ to this ever-darkening world."

Elder Holland promises us that if we pray every morning and "ask Heavenly Father to guide you to recognize an opportunity to serve one of His precious children...your spiritual sensitivities will be enlarged and you will discover opportunities to serve that you never before realized were possible."

Just as the honeybees focus on the flowers, we need to focus on the people around us and how we can serve them. I'm looking forward to serving more, knowing that as I do this I will feel closer to the Lord.

To read more from this wonderful talk click on the following link. Enjoy!  Be Anxiously Engaged