Beekeeping and Orthodox Christianity have long held a special relationship.  There are many rich analogies between the two, and beautiful stories of monasteries and miracles and the divine intertwined with bees.  Several years ago, my husband and I decided to try our hand at the mystical art of beekeeping.  Beekeeping is not just mystical, and it is not just hard work that ends in the reaping of sweet rewards. It’s backbreaking and heartbreaking care with a dark side—at least, it is here in Texas.  In order to protect Southern bee hives from being overtaken by invasive Africanized (“killer”) bees, the beekeeper must regularly dig deep within the hive, find and root out all of the baby queens, and each year, find, kill, and replace the queen. Otherwise, the hive will become too dangerous to manage.

Killer bees are sneaky.  Sometimes they swarm and obviously take over a hive.  But what generally happens is much more akin to how sin enters our lives.  The dangerous bees slowly infiltrate a gentle hive, introducing their aggressive genetics over several lifecycles.  The interesting part, at least as we discovered, is that the more aggressive the bees got, the sweeter and darker the honey.  The sweeter and darker the honey, the less inclined we were to engage in the physical and brutal work of culling the danger. 

When we talk about engaging in the Good Life, we cannot forget that it is so much more than participating in morning prayer, playing at recess, and participating in dialectical discussions.  In our own lives as adults, and as the guides of young children, we cannot shy away from the hard and sometimes heart-wrenching work of digging deep to eradicate those things taking root in our lives that would hold us back from Christ.  We must be willing to face not only our own shadows, but also be willing to stand by, even to kneel by, our children, and help them to do the same.  Raising children who are strong in their faith requires strength in those who are raising them.  What kind of life do we give our children if we do not teach them the to take responsibility for wrong doings and seek repentance and the joy of returning to God?  It is not always easy to look at our children and acknowledge that they may have done wrong, or that they may be developing unhealthy habits.  If the Good Life were easy, would it be worth calling the Good Life?

It wasn’t laziness that caused us to neglect the weeding out of dangerous bees; rather a hesitance to engage in the emotionally hard work required.  Because of that, it ended with an extermination of the entire colony.  It was a heartbreak, but in the end, it was just two bee hives.  Let us not grow weary in the hard work of the Good Life, for the sake of our souls and for the sake of these precious souls of the children we serve daily.  What a calling, and what a privilege.  May the Lord have mercy on us and save us.