Mindful of the Bees

Today I was doing some tidying up in my garden and as I picked up leaves I found a bee on the ground slightly the worse for all the rain and cold weather we have been having.  It was looking pretty pale and didn’t seem able to fly.

I moved it on a flat stone to a safer area right beside a yellow flower to see if it would somehow revive.  As I watched it I could see it using its front legs to wash itself a bit like a cat when it takes its paw over its face.  It was fascinating just stopping to watch it rub itself and observing all the details of this small fragile creature. The intricate wings designs, its black shiny legs, furry body and strange (to me) face.  It began to breathe heavily or at least its body was vibrating and moved up and down and I wondered about this creature’s heart and how tiny it must be!  As I did so I saw an even tinier insect – a very small fly flitting about the bee and began to think about how small and yet perfectly formed it was too.  I could barely comprehend the size of its internal organs.

I shared this story with the kids today as I read out the bible story of creation to them.  The bigness of creation is mind boggling too, but it was this small bee and the intricacies of its body inside and out that caught my attention – and the kids.  It is good to read about our amazing creator God, but all around us the immensity and minutia of the natural world cries out to be paid attention to – God wants to be seen and heard and understood in all the glorious detail of creation, in all the immenseness of the universe.  But how mindful are we of it all, or even of the smallest part of it?  Have you sat for a few minutes recently and just looked at something in all its detail or wondered about just one aspect of this amazing world that we live in?  Take a few moments today and observe/be mindful of/pay attention to at least one created thing.  This could be your spiritual practice today.