Bringing Nectar Back To The Hive

Honey bees look far and wide for beautiful flowers and when they have found them, they take the nectar and bring it back to the hive. It’s important that the bees themselves gather the nectar because they have enzymes that help transform the nectar into honey. And as they are out there flitting from flower to flower, they are also pollinating the flowers and in their own way they are helping to beautify and replenish the Earth. I think that this is a beautiful metaphor for how we ought to interact with the world and especially for how we can help to bring about our Heavenly Father’s work and glory. We were created and placed on this Earth to find and experience joy and beauty. We are like honey bees roving far and wide finding good and beautiful and joyful experiences to land on. We ought to drink deeply from the nectar of these experiences, but then we need to return back to the hive and share this nectar that we have found. God does not give us light and truth and beauty and joy just so we can hold it all inside ourselves. As it says in the Thirteenth Article of Faith “If there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy, we seek after these things”, and once we have found them, we bring them back to the hive. We offer all of the nectar that we find to our Heavenly Father and He will consecrate it and convert it into honey for long-term storage and for the benefit of all. There are so many beautiful flowers out there in the world, full of nectar and waiting for us to drink deeply of the beauty and sweetness that they provide. The more that we go out into the world seeking after good, virtuous, lovely, sweet, beautiful experiences, the more nectar we will have to bring back to the hive, and also the more we will be able to spread our goodness and pollinate and cultivate other flowers and, just like the honeybees, beautify and replenish the Earth. We may have been counseled to keep ourselves unspotted from the world, but that does not mean that we should keep ourselves from spotting the beautiful and lovely and joyful things that God has placed upon the Earth for us to enjoy and to draw strength and power from. I hope that we will follow the examples of the honey bees and never grow tired of seeking out all that is good and lovely in the world and always remembering to bring back that goodness to the hive to share with our brothers and sisters and with our Heavenly Father.