Editorial September 1, 1906 Issue

THE HONEY-BEE

John B. Willis

Job was speaking to a self-appointed critic when he said, "Ask now the beasts and they will teach thee, and the fowls of the air and they will tell thee;" but in addition to the rebuke thus administered, his words convey a suggestion of the range and value of the wisdom which may be gained by thoughtfully interrogating the gentle creatures so often chanced upon in our daily walks.

Of these, none are more interesting than the busy little worker who flavors the summer day with a quieting hum as he hastens from one flowery threshold to another. His industry and unselfishness are proverbial, while the directness and intelligence with which he pursues his high emprise, his manifest freedom from all uncertainty as to what to do and how to do it,—these also appeal to our thought. They make us see with greater clearness what it would mean to our lives were we ever guided by that individual and immediate apprehension of truth which is made available to us in Christian Science, and the practical significance of which is so happily illustrated in the life and doings of our wise little friend. He too must sally forth into a wilderness of conflicting appeals, but he claims for his own only that which is sweet and fragrant. He is not confused or led astray by the things that yield no honey, as are we, nor wastes he one moment upon them. He troubles himself not at all with the affairs of others withal, and he appropriates his own good alone. Bravely and cheerily he passes from blossom to blossom, finding the full measure of his nature's satisfaction and laying by an abundant store of good for himself and for all.

Now it is apparent that though the bee were ever so earnest in his efforts, they would avail him nothing apart from the wondrous instinct by which he finds the scented "highways of the air" and follows them to his goal. It is the guidance of an unerring sense which alone insures the success of his endeavor and so completes his life. And how true is this of men. How futile their aspiration and their struggles, so long as their sense of truth is uncertain and indefinite; and what of real good have they ever accomplished apart from that spiritual knowing which, as Jesus said, is to give mastery, "make free." The teaching of Christian Science rings true. Spiritual intuition must be as native to man as is instinct to the bee; as dominant in life's activities as it is essential to life's completion.

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