Good Leaven
Yesterday, I watched a program on The Learning Channel about "Killer Bees". Sometime in the 1950's a misguided scientist imported African bees to Brazil for the purpose of increasing the local honey production.
Bees are not indigenous to the Americas so when the first settlers wanted to import bees, they wisely chose a relatively docile species, the European honey bee. Now the more aggressive African bees have invaded the existing honey bee hives, passing on their genes to produce a new species which the scientists have named "Africanized bees". These bees have spread throughout Brazil northward into Arizona, Texas and California. When agitated, they will collectively sting at a rate of 60 stings per square inch, killing their victims within minutes. They will pursue their target for up to 1/2 mile and will not cease their attack for up to 24 hours. It is estimated that they move northward at an annual rate of 1,100 miles a year, and in the next 20 years, all of our docile honey bees will be converted to the hybrid "Africanized bees".
As I watched this program, I could not resist drawing the correlation between the progression of the "Africanized bees" and the progression of evil in our society today. When the female honey bee mates, she will mate with at least 20 drones; storing the sperm within her abdomen. She then slowly releases the sperm with each egg production over her two year lifetime. If she had the discernment to limit her mating to only those of her species, then her hive will never become Africanized, however if she mates with even one African bee, it is inevitable that her hive will become increasingly hostile.
"A little leaven leavens the whole lump." Galatians 5:9 RSV
I was cautioned to diligently monitor what is taken into my mind and soul. Once bad leaven ( evil) has been added to the flour, eradication is nearly impossible. Avoiding evil may be as simple as turning off a TV program, turning away from an irate person or quickly apologizing for hurting someone's feelings.
Adding good leaven (goodness) to the flour may be a simple as a kind word, a smile or simply listening to someone who is hurting. Good leaven can overtake the flour just a quickly as the bad leaven.
In reading the Mitford Book Series, I remembered that one of the characters daily prayed "the prayer that never fails". This prayer is always answered by God. "God, please let me be a blessing to someone today." Think of it as Good Leaven.
Bees are not indigenous to the Americas so when the first settlers wanted to import bees, they wisely chose a relatively docile species, the European honey bee. Now the more aggressive African bees have invaded the existing honey bee hives, passing on their genes to produce a new species which the scientists have named "Africanized bees". These bees have spread throughout Brazil northward into Arizona, Texas and California. When agitated, they will collectively sting at a rate of 60 stings per square inch, killing their victims within minutes. They will pursue their target for up to 1/2 mile and will not cease their attack for up to 24 hours. It is estimated that they move northward at an annual rate of 1,100 miles a year, and in the next 20 years, all of our docile honey bees will be converted to the hybrid "Africanized bees".
As I watched this program, I could not resist drawing the correlation between the progression of the "Africanized bees" and the progression of evil in our society today. When the female honey bee mates, she will mate with at least 20 drones; storing the sperm within her abdomen. She then slowly releases the sperm with each egg production over her two year lifetime. If she had the discernment to limit her mating to only those of her species, then her hive will never become Africanized, however if she mates with even one African bee, it is inevitable that her hive will become increasingly hostile.
"A little leaven leavens the whole lump." Galatians 5:9 RSV
I was cautioned to diligently monitor what is taken into my mind and soul. Once bad leaven ( evil) has been added to the flour, eradication is nearly impossible. Avoiding evil may be as simple as turning off a TV program, turning away from an irate person or quickly apologizing for hurting someone's feelings.
Adding good leaven (goodness) to the flour may be a simple as a kind word, a smile or simply listening to someone who is hurting. Good leaven can overtake the flour just a quickly as the bad leaven.
In reading the Mitford Book Series, I remembered that one of the characters daily prayed "the prayer that never fails". This prayer is always answered by God. "God, please let me be a blessing to someone today." Think of it as Good Leaven.
posted by Hepzibah The Watchman | 9:08 AM
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