Day 1: The only reason for being a bee

Ok. So here’s a quick quiz question to test your general knowledge. In the last 23 months how many Covid tests have been taken in the United Kingdom? A tough one, eh? Well, are you ready for this?

470 million!

Let me also clarify that figure, that is the number of reported tests – 470,101,581. How many people have taken Lateral Flow Tests at home and not used the online government reporting form?

Every time I open a box of Lateral Flow Tests I look at the seven plastic vials, the seven plastic ampoules of fluid (thankfully some kits combine these two items), the seven test strips, the seven swabs and the seven plastic bags and it breaks my heart. What must a pile of 470,101,581 items of vials, ampoules, test strips, swabs and plastic bags look like? That’s some landfill! At least the cardboard box it comes in is recyclable.

After making so many great strides in our efforts to be more aware of the delicate balance of Creation all around us this past 23 months has been a bit of a bump in the road. A J Cronin in his wonderful book, The Keys of the Kingdom, has a scene where a terrible storm has wreaked havoc on a village and its farms. Responding to the doom and gloom felt by the villagers the main character in the book, Father Chisholm, says, “That is life... to begin again when everything is lost!” We might feel the weight of circumstances like those villagers, especially recently in the light of Storms Eunice and Franklin and the situation in the Ukraine. We need to refocus and redouble our efforts to care for Creation, sometimes even having to begin again, and to be inspired by Creation too.

Carol Bechtel in her blog All Nature Sings has the following as her introductory paragraph:

“Winnie-the-Pooh said, ‘The only reason for being a bee is to make honey. And the only reason for making honey is so I can eat it.’

“Far be it from me to pick a fight with A. A. Milne’s fictional bear, but, in fact, the book of Psalms begs to differ with this principle. Each element of creation, the psalms insist, exists not primarily for our consumption, but to praise its creator.”

She goes on to say: “The wonders of God’s creation call us to praise the One responsible.”

Psalm 19 says: “The heavens are telling the glory of God; they are a marvellous display of his craftsmanship. Day and night they keep on telling about God. Without a sound or word, silent in the skies, their message reaches out to all the world.”

Remember, we should not just focus on caring for Creation, but it should also call us to praise God. At the beginning of this series of ASecludedPlace thoughts may we find time to praise, to pray and to reflect.

Why not use the final verse of Psalm 19 as a short prayer:

May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer. Amen.

Neil Chappell