Colony Collapse Disorder

Matthew 5:15 -- "Nor do men light a lamp and put it under the peck-measure, but on the lamp-stand: and it gives light to all who are in the house."

image: reddit.com

Taking in a good deep breath I can smell rain and wet earth. A gentle flash of light and the sound of thunder give way to tiny drops of water that collect on my skin and make the hair stand up. I have forgotten all about the broken wheel of my grocery cart, my list, and all that needs doin'. Instead, I find myself enjoying the little rain storm in the produce department.

The colorful collection of fruits and vegetables never ceases to catch my attention and leave me joyful. It is amazing what God has provided for us through the tending of soil. Seeing the sweet yellows, the bright reds, and deep greens, it might surprise you that out of every three bites of food we take in this country - at least one would not be there if it weren't for pollinators. In fact, in his work entitled The Life Of The Bee Maurice Maeterlinck once said: "Remove the bee from the earth and at the same stroke you remove at least one hundred thousand plants that will not survive."

That's a pretty huge number! Just think about all the things we eat. And then - what all the things that we eat, eat. Plants are the very foundation of any food chain and of the two types of plant reproduction on this planet, one is pollination. If you do the math - half of the plants on this planet use pollination to survive. That's staggering when you think about it.

In October of 2006 a man by the name of David Hackenberg went out to his numerous bee hives to check on the progress of things just as he had been doing since 1962. But on this morning something was wrong. David began to notice a disturbing trend in his bee colonies. On that fateful day in October, David calculated that he'd lost 80% of his bee farm. It was strange. They'd been there the day before.  In the affected hives there was still a queen present and even several stages of young brood - but all of the workers were simply gone. This odd disappearance would come to be known as Colony Collapse Disorder.

image: commons.wikimedia.org

David wasn't the only one to have this problem. After he blew the whistle on what might become the beginning of our own - human colony collapse - it was learned that England, Australia, Italy, Taiwan, and several other countries were suffering from the same horrible bee loss. Some may ignore this delima, putting it on the back burner and calling it simply strange - but the way I see it - we are at the brink of a an enormous loss of plant life, fruit and vegetable production, and food on the table. Can you imagine a world without bees? I have a hard time wrapping my head around it - it's frightening.

Colony Collapse Disorder is a really scary thing, to be sure - but even more frightening to me, is the darkness falling over a nation that was originally built on the light of God and the freedom to openly worship Him. What is WRONG with us? Are we going the way of the  European Honey Bee? Are WE at the brink of collapse because bit by bit, law by law - God is being removed from the fundamentals and back-bone of our country?

image: sparkylaurie.blogspot.com

The obvious place to notice that we've removed God from daily life would be the schools, but it goes so much deeper than that. At the doctor's office not too long ago, my son mentioned he'd been praying about a certain situation. He even quoted scripture to reinforce his faithfulness regarding his delima. The doctor looked at him and then at me - as if she were afraid we might sprout an extra arm or horns or something. After deep and careful consideration she mentioned another Bible verse that might encourage my son. His face lit up. She, however, became increasingly nervous. It was then that she said to me in a hushed voice - since he brought it up, I think I can share with you that I am also a Christian, but I cannot initiate that conversation.

What?! Why not?! I couldn't believe what was hearing! I mean, we hadn't somehow been transported to a different country or anything. This happened right here, in the US - in Florida! Have we really become so paranoid and timid that we can't openly share the light and love of God in public? What would happen to our doctor if she openly confessed she serves Christ? Would they actually fire her? Can they even do that?

Wow - all of humanity NEEDS the light of Jesus Christ. Matthew even reiterated this in chapter 5 - more than once. How many of us would be the David Hackenberg of Chrtitianity? When will we stand up to blow the whistle on a devastating disappearance?

Kudos to the kid that prayed while delivering a speech at his high school graduation here at Orange Park High - even though he'd been told that he could not do that in public assembly. Kudos to the person in the grocery store that said "God bless you"  [and not just bless you] the other day when I sneezed. And hip-hip-hooray to my family attorney who sends out Christmas cards every single year with the image of a nativity scene emblazoned on the front of them and Merry Christmas clearly printed on the inside.

We're coming up on the holiday season, folks. What can we do put more LIGHT into our celebration? I can't help but think that the human race may be coming up on our darkest hour. Let's encourage the boldness of LIGHT.

[wanna' know more about Colony Collapse Disorder and Pollinators? check out: pollinator.org, hackenbergapiaries.org, ars.usda.gov/ccd, and nrdc.org]