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On a walk one morning this summer, I followed the sidewalk under the low overhanging limbs of a mimosa tree. The air was filled with sweet aroma even though all the blossoms had dropped and were scattered across the sidewalk. The faded pinkish-yellow clustered flowers of the mimosa remind me of the little plumes on the tips of ostrich feathers. They limply lay on the sidewalk, but were still emitting their thick, sweet odor. The early sun was already beginning to dry them up. As I walked over the fallen blossoms, I noticed that inside almost every crumpled blossom there was a large bumble bee moving around. Even though the blossoms were almost beneath my feet, the bumble bees seemed oblivious to my presence. In fact, they only flew off when my shadow was directly above them, but a soon as I moved a step or two beyond they immediately returned. Each big bee was so intent on gathering the goodness that it was undistracted by any fear it may have had of me. They seemed to know by instinct that the goodness of the mimosa blossoms would only last a short time that morning. They were not willing to give up single blossom until all the goodness that could be gotten had been gleaned. In spite of the obvious drying up of the blossoms that was occurring moment by moment from the heat of the sun, the bees refused to give up on the life-giving goodness that remained. Sometimes I think we are so anxious about tomorrow that we fail to gather the fullest goodness that each day offers. We leave so much nectar overlooked and left behind on the sidewalk as we move on. But some things can't be put off until later. The blossoms dry up. The bees knew that. They were not passing up the opportunity of that moment to claim all the goodness of life where they were. They were so committed to gathering every drop of goodness God had given that morning that they refused to let their fears of me distract them. The bumble bees seemed to know intuitively what it takes us a lifetime to learn. God will always give us all the grace and goodness we need where we are even when the blossoms have fallen to the ground. There is some goodness available on every sidewalk of life. --H.S. |