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A Word from the PastorI wonder… do we truly know how much we are connected to all life? Think with me for a minute. If all life is held together by the Holy Spirit as I believe it is (no disrespect meant to the Big Bang Gang), and if there is an amazing similarity in the DNA of all life (and there is), then it would make sense for us to say that we have a pretty strong connection to all other life. Right? Think of it as a Butterfly Effect of sorts. Why does attending a funeral, for example, give comfort to all those who attend? We NEED connection. Have you ever had a pet that was sad? Have you ever known anyone who passed from this life to the next only to have their pet give up and go right after they did? Have you seen how a slight change in someone’s environment affects their entire environment? (And I’m not talking global warming here Mr. Melt!) Have you ever considered the lowly bee? A few days ago I read a Wall Street Journal article that referred to a study done with your basic honeybee. The study said that when bees are stressed they react to their stress. It seems that bees get very pessimistic when something shakes their world (literally). The study comes from Current Biology, (Volume 21, Issue 12, 1070-1073, 02 June 2011) and reports, “for the first time that agitated bees are more likely to classify ambiguous stimuli as predicting punishment.” In other words, either the bees have bought into the theology of Job’s friends, OR there is something in all life that says a vigorous shaking makes us anticipate that something else bad might happen to us. Either way, the end result is a change in our behavior. The shaken bees had a negative outlook of sorts. They didn’t expect anything good to happen to them. They also had a drop in the level of neurotransmitters like dopamine and serotonin. I didn’t even know bees HAD serotonin!
Oh well, you probably don’t know anyone who has had their world shaken. But if you run across one of those unfortunate individuals and they seem to buzz on and on about how nothing good will ever happen to them, maybe inspiration will lead you to bee a calming and reassuring presence. Maybe there will bee an opportunity to offer something sweet their way. Who knows, maybe they will produce something sweet in return. Just a thought…
Mike
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