“Bee” Anxiously Engaged

The worldwide General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints took place one week ago.  It’s a time when our leaders address members across the globe, delivering messages of hope and inspiration.  One of my personal favorites was a talk given by Elder M. Russell Ballard entitled “Be Anxiously Engaged”:

I won’t spoil your joy by telling you everything in his talk (he can do it much better than I can), but I will tell you that he shared some fascinating facts about bees and the beehive collective.  I found it particularly interesting that a single worker bee, in its whole lifetime, will contribute only 1/12th of one teaspoon of nectar to the hive.  I was surprised by that number!  Such a small amount.  And yet, without all the little bees collecting nectar, there’d be no honey.

Now, how does this relate to us?  To me, it’s about service.

Our efforts toward service can be diminished in our own eyes in one of two ways.  We either think that our small, consistent efforts aren’t enough OR we justify inaction by rationalizing that it wouldn’t make a difference anyway.

Neither approach is helpful.  Nor true.

Small and simple things DO matter.  The smile we give to a stranger, the hug we give to a child, the secret prayer for a friend.  The size of the deed is not what matters but the size of the heart performing the deed.  We all matter.  We all contribute.

Elder Ballard said:

Imagine what the millions of Latter-day Saints could accomplish in the world if we functioned like a beehive in our focused, concentrated commitment to the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ.

The Savior taught that the first and great commandment is:

“Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. …

“And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

“On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets” (Matthew 22:37, 39–40).

The Savior’s words are simple, yet their meaning is profound and deeply significant. We are to love God and to love and care for our neighbors as ourselves. Imagine what good we can do in the world if we all join together, united as followers of Christ, anxiously and busily responding to the needs of others and serving those around us—our families, our friends, our neighbors, our fellow citizens.

Imagine what millions of people of all religions could accomplish in the world if we functioned as a beehive in bringing happiness and peace to this world.

Photo Credit:  Microsoft Office Clip Art

So, how will you collect your 1/12th of a teaspoon today?