Extracting the Essence

(Honeybee on apple blossom and honey harvest - praise bee!!!) Extracting the Essence When a honeybee makes honey first she has to extract the nectar flying about between various flowers sipping their sweet juices until her stomach is full. Then it’s back to the hive to add her tiny drop to a wax comb cell her sisters have drawn and then off again, to fill again, over and over until the cells are full. And then the bees let it rest (as they work on tirelessly to make and fill more comb). And left to just sit, the partially digested nectar slowly continues to digest, evaporate, concentrate until now, thick and golden ripe it’s ready to cap. So it is with spiritual practice in whatever form as we gather the nectar of teachings, extracting the essence to let it rest in the heart of our practice until, just like with the bees it turns to honey, an essence, in such abundance that all we can do is share. (10/13/2021, originally published in my 5th book of poems and stories, EXTRACTING THE ESSENCE, 2021)