This beautiful photo is a lovely close up of a honeybee drawing nectar from a flower. For the bee this flower means everything in terms of gathering nectar. Equally for the flower the presence of the bee means everything for pollination. It is a unique relationship that has evolved over millions of years. During this month of May the weather has thankfully improved to allow our bee colonies build up again in numbers, after a very difficult and long spring.

Photo is by Michael Siebert from Pixabay

On This Day

On May 24th 1956 the 1st Eurovision Song Contest took place in Switzerland.

Birthdays Today

Bob Dylan (Singer songwriter) is 84

Packie Bonner (Ex Ireland Goalkeeper) is 64

Sean Kelly (Famous Irish Cyclist) is 68

Dermot O’Leary (TV Presenter) is 51

Significance of Today

Many events take place during the month of May like National Bike week last week.  This month also celebrates ‘Get Caught Reading A Book!’. The idea behind it is to put the smartphone or television to one side and pick up a book and start reading. It is so rare to see anyone reading a book now in public. When was the last time you saw someone reading a book? Everyone is stuck on their mobile phone. So why not pick up a book and start reading.

Interesting Quote for Today

“Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn.” ~ Benjamin Franklin

Did You Know

Dead skin cells are a main ingredient in household dust. Here is an interesting science fact for you, humans shed around 200 million skin cells each hour and they have to go somewhere when we’re indoors!!

 

Thought For The Week

‘The ecological crisis is begging us to listen. We need to be mindful that we are all impacting on one another through our interconnection in the awesome web of life. What we do the web, we do to ourselves. We therefore, either flourish together or we stagnate together.’’ ~Martina Lehane Sheehan

This week from May 19th-26th we celebrate Laudato Si Week. Laudato Si is a beautiful ground breaking piece of work written by Pope Francis on the care of our planet earth and what we can do to combat climate change. It is one of the most discussed documents written by a Pope and it is addressed to every living person on this planet. To keep these discussions ongoing an official week has been dedicated to Laudato Si. This year’s Laudato Si’ Week theme is inspired by the symbol for Season of Creation 2024, “firstfruits.” Let us be seeds of hope in our lives and our world, rooted in faith and love.

Everyone knows our planet is under severe pressure and scientists are constantly talking about extreme weather events becoming more common. We have all heard how Spain has had to deal with temperatures of 40C in recent weeks. They are experiencing severe drought and water restrictions, and this is before the summer has even begun properly.

So, we know what is going on all around us with facts, statistics and the knowledge of scientists. But a key question to ask is are we really listening? Do we really care? Do we want to be part of solutions going forward? Do we want to stagnate or very importantly do we want to flourish and work our way through this together?

It is my firm belief that it’s not all bad news. Many people from young to old are becoming increasingly aware of and are active in environmental causes. Many are making eco-friendly changes in their lifestyles. There is a growing appreciation of the beauty of nature and a realisation that consumerism and capitalism does come with a cost. There is a growing realisation that we can do something and that we must do something.

Pope Francis wants us to reflect on all these things during the coming week. He is genuinely hopeful and positive that something can be done to protect our planet earth going forward. Where are you in all of it? We must act now, and we must be hopeful.

The Thought For The Week is updated each Monday