'God may send a cross but also sends the strength to bear it.' ~Leo Nikolaevich Tolstoy

At the moment there seems to be wasps everywhere. They hang around rubbish bins, around the kitchen door and are so annoying as they fly around you in circles. It looks like we will have to put up with them for another few weeks. It would be a pity though to put the honeybee into the same category. The honeybee will not be found near rubbish bins or around our kitchen doors. Instead it will be busy gathering nectar from the flowers and at this time of year they are busy working heather and fuschia flowers. For every drop of honey they make they have to collect 80 drops of nectar. They have worked it out that to make a jar of honey the bees will have to visit two million flowers! There is an old saying that says 'There are no results without effort' and the honeybee knows this only too well. Jesus in our Gospels also talks about no results without effort. He reminds us that to be a follower of his we will have to take up a cross. We will be exposed to difficulties, setbacks, hurt and disappointments. We can't avoid these. They are part and parcel of life. Jesus calls them a cross but assures us that whatever our cross, he will be there to help us carry it, whatever it might be.