of bees and cops

My day started off badly because of overcast conditions. I had hoped to get up with the sun and check on my bees before they were too awake to care, but because of the clouds I got up later than I wanted to and had to rush the process of checking my two hives. The process went OK with no real mishaps other than the bees getting a bit more irritated than usual because of my not moving as slowly and carefully as I should have (bees don't like to be handled roughly or quickly). I only got stung by one bee that had crawled up my pant leg. The reason I was rushing things was because I didn't want to be late to work. But even with my rushing with the bees I was still running 5 minutes late. Even though I work for a very understanding boss who would've had no problem with my being late that day, I still don't like being late to work. Consequently, I ignored that little voice that was trying to tell me that it really was foolish to have handled the bees the way I did, and that to drive 10 - 15 mph over the speed limit was also not a good thing. But hey, I'm a risk-taker by nature, just being who I am . . . I can still make it to work on time if I go just a little bit faster. Cops never patrol these country roads.

I saw the parked cop car about the same time his radar gun saw me. Two minutes later I was parked on the shoulder of the road. What had been a still, small voice was now a glaring, flashing red light. Got the message now, Mr. Jones?

As I reflected on these happenings at the start of my day the message came through to me clear as a bell, and I want to pass it on to you, my reader, because I believe it is an important message we all need to be reminded of from time to time. The message is this: DO NOT IGNORE THAT LITTLE VOICE THAT YOU KNOW IS RIGHT BUT YOU WISH IT WASN'T. The danger of ignoring what we know to be right is that our ability to hear that voice becomes weakened, even to the point that we will no longer hear it if we ignore it too often. It's called a hardened conscience. We need to keep our hearts soft and easily receptive to Heaven's voice. If it irritates, challenges, pushes us out of our comfort zone, it's a pretty good indicator that we'd better pay attention. Would you ignore that little warning light on your dash that's telling you you're almost out of gas?

Fortunately, grace is available to all of us who from time to time ignore that still, small voice. Just like the cop who only gave me a warning instead of a ticket, Heaven will give us warnings before

the harsher judgments come. But I am resolved to continue to work on slowing down in life. As the saying goes, "speed kills", and I want to be about life, not death.