<p><em>The liturgical calendar foregrounds joy during Easter but that does not mean our griefs and fears disappear. This weeks reflection encourages us to consider Gods work in nature and take courage from the emerging patterns of love and new life that we see. When the world is dark we may not see clearly but Love remains active despite our poor vision. This season of resurrection reminds that the living flame of love cannot be not extinguished.</em></p><div class=oldwebkit><p><strong>May 14 2023: Sixth Sunday of Easter</strong></p><p>Acts 8:5-8 14-17</p><p>Psalm 66</p><p>1 Peter 3:15-18</p><p>John 14:15-21 </p><h3>The Promise of Buzzing Bees and the Hope that Is in You</h3><p><em>A reflection by Darby DeJarnette</em></p><p>Weve left Lent behind us again this year and are now in Easter: the great season of resurrection and renewal. We see the evidence of Gods Easter work in the world around us where flowers bloom and spring showers give way to pleasant sunny days. As the world emerges into new life we may find ourselves drawn to consider the billions of little things that have to happen in nature to move us through the year; all the ways big and small that God has designed such that each life force in creation works in tandem with all others.</p><p>The flowers themselves tell a hidden story. When they hear the buzzing of bees flowers automatically produce a sweeter nectar. The bees are attracted to the nectar and use it to pollinate; a function so important that a threat to bees is a threat to all living things. Even the smallest creatures are essential to God and nothing is wasted.</p><p>In this Sundays gospel Jesus says In a little while the world will no longer see me but you will see me; because I live you also will live. In this way we are like the flowers unable to see the bees but responding to their presence and trusting that what we create in the world will bear fruit.</p><p>Most flowers require the sunlight to survive. They grow without knowing why or what the sources of their flourishing are. Spring and Easter have an association with the light in our culture but its often in darkness that the most important processes take place. St. John of the Cross understood this. He said In the dark night of the soul bright flows the river of God.</p><p>The reading from Peters First Letter acknowledges this dark night this mysterious Easter darkness as one place God co-creates with us: Always be ready to make your defense to anyone who demands from you an accounting for the hope that is in youKeep your conscience clear so that when you are maligned those who abuse you for your good conduct in Christ may be put to shame. In our spiritual darkness God is so close we cannot see the breadth of Gods work. We may experience that darkness in ourselves when we doubt our own belovedness. We experience it when others attack or deny our belovedness. We cannot hear the buzzing of the bees nor do we have evidence of the sun so we can be tempted to close ourselves off and cease creating the life-giving nectar that God put us in this world to create.&nbsp;</p><p>And yet it is precisely the doctrine of resurrection which reminds us that Christ is with in that darkness and not just with us but with us so that we can emerge from such a spiritual night more fully alive in the light of a new morning. The resurrection of Jesus reminds us that our hope is in the fact that the day follows night. Our light just like the Light of the World cannot be extinguished.</p><p>I will not leave you orphaned; I am coming to you. The words of Jesus in the gospel are a promise like bees buzzing near a flower. Its a promise that we will be able to see Christ with eyes that we dont currently have in ways that we may not understand in our current embodiment. Jesus says the one who loves me will be loved by God and I will love them and reveal myself to them.</p><p>Flowers grow wild and they grow almost everywhere thanks to the work of the bees. Its the same for us if we allow the bright river of God to nourish our souls especially in darkness. We are meant to share the Divine Beauty and that Beauty acts on us whether or not we recognize it. Contemplate these words from St. John of the Cross poem The Living Flame of Love:</p><p><em>How gently and lovingly</em><br><em> you wake in my heart</em><br><em> where in secret you dwell alone;</em><br><em> and in your sweet breathing</em><br><em> filled with good and glory</em><br><em> how tenderly you swell my heart with love.*</em></p><p>We change just as nature changes and in this change we can find hope. Love works to change and grow us even in silencedarknessor suffering. The hope within us is the living flame of Gods love which can never be extinguished. It is the hope of Easter that promises spring sunlight even in darkness the hope of creation nurtured by Love down to its most minute details. As Love reveals in us its promise of more abundant life even as the buzzing of bees promise flowers where none may as yet be planted.</p><p>Are you experiencing Easter in light or in darkness? What new life is God working to bring forth in you? Where is God most present to you? In what person or place are you seeing God reflected most strongly at this time?</p><p>As we notice the works of God around us perhaps we can reflect on the words of Psalm 66: Come and hear all you who love God and I will tell what God has done for me. Blessed be God because God has not rejected my prayer or removed Gods steadfast love from me.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p><em>*from The Works of St. John of the Cross. Copyright ICS Publications.</em></p></div><div class=oldwebkit>&nbsp;</div><div class=mobile-full><img class=mobile-full src=https://www.dignityusa.org/sites/default/files/civicrm/persist/contribute/images/uploads/static/darby_dejarnette_81f359a217fd9dd5b687b09b0cbe3baf_89e0c2787a6d96bfe206bf8f49188de7.jpg alt= width=166 vspace=0 hspace=0></div><p><em><strong>Darby DeJarnette</strong> is the Manager of Operations and Missions Services at DignityUSA. She has been involved in marketing and public relations writing for most of her professional career and has had several poems published in small press anthologies. Darby is also a staff writer at a local D.C. performing arts publication. She has had over one hundred articles published under her byline to date and hopes to continue to add to that number.</em></p><p></p><p style=text-align: center;><a class=btn btn-primary href=https://www.dignityusa.org/civicrm/mailing/subscribe>Subscribe to Breath of the Spirit</a></p>