Links for today’s readings:
Feb 25 Read: Proverbs 16 Listen: (3:15) Read: Mark 6 Listen: (7:23)
Scripture Focus: Proverbs 16:24
Gracious words are a honeycomb,
sweet to the soul and healing to the bones.
Reflection: Honeycombs
By Erin Newton
“You can catch more bees with honey.”
Just the other night I was walking my dogs when another dog-owner started yelling for me to “Move on!” Apparently, I was walking too close for this person’s liking, and they were already angry. I wish my response had been gracious words. I think I muttered an exasperated, “I’m trying!”
I love the metaphor used in Proverbs 16: Gracious words are a honeycomb. Graciousness, in the Bible, is often paired with words about compassion and mercy. In this text, the Hebrew word means “kind.” Kind words are a honeycomb.
My sister has an apiary—she keeps bees. From her experience (and a fascination with all things in nature), I have learned about the intricate part of bee life. First, honeycombs do not occur spontaneously. They are carefully made. In fact, it requires the whole hive of worker bees to make honeycomb. Second, honeycombs are made from ingredients inside bees that are then deposited (and chewed and re-deposited) by other bees. Lastly, honeycombs hold not only honey but pollen and the brood of future bees. In short, honeycombs are more than a dessert tray.
Words can be honeycomb. How should we think about this metaphor?
Gracious words are not simply something to sweeten things. We have heard about “toxic positivity” where people attempt to ward off bad feelings or ignore bad situations by infusing positive statements. Think about someone who has lost a family member. It might be simple to say, “They’re in a better place now!” It might be true but it’s not always soul-sweetening or bone-healing (as our proverb says). Gracious (kind) words should be nourishing. They are not just words for a moment but words that can give life.
Gracious words are the result of what is inside us. Like the wax created from the parts of the bees themselves, gracious words are not just phrases we memorize. Bees search for pollen and convert that to create honeycomb. We too must be looking for life-giving words from Scripture. The Gospels remind us, “For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of” (Matt 12.34; Luke 6.45).
Producing gracious words requires practice and work. Like building a honeycomb, we cannot expect to speak kindly when we have only ever practiced rudeness, sarcasm, insults, objectification, othering, or any sort of speech that tears down.
Kind words are carefully crafted. Kind words heal souls.
Divine Hours Prayer: The Call to Prayer
Love the Lord, all you who worship him; the Lord protects the faithful, but repays to the full those who act haughtily. — Psalm 31.23
– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Springtime by Phyllis Tickle.
Read more: When Skepticism meets Kindness
Sometimes we look at kindness and assume there is a scheme of self-promotion…We treat the servants of mercy as spies.
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