{"id":2107,"date":"2016-08-26T22:11:05","date_gmt":"2016-08-26T22:11:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/?p=2107"},"modified":"2016-08-26T22:11:05","modified_gmt":"2016-08-26T22:11:05","slug":"honey-bees-senior-citizens-common","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2016\/08\/honey-bees-senior-citizens-common.html","title":{"rendered":"What do honey bees and senior citizens have in common?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"ImageCourtesyofzole4\/FreeDigitalPhotos.net
ImageCourtesyofzole4\/FreeDigitalPhotos.net<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I’m sorry I missed them: August 20 was National Honey Bee Day<\/a>, and August 21 was National Senior Citizens Day<\/a>. But I thought I’d make up for my omission by reflecting on something that seems to unite those two: \u00a0Rare beauty.<\/p>\n

We’ve read about the plight of honey bee colonies. How something seems to be decimating their colonies and, because of this, how pollination is in peril. \u00a0Honey bees might be small, but they do a mighty job! The same is true of many senior citizens I know. No matter their aches, pains, and age-related foibles, these older people are sometimes more youthful than the youth I know, and certainly as busy. But they, too, are becoming rare, not so much because they are dying off (although there is that, too).<\/p>\n

No, too often, people discount what senior citizens are capable of doing. Or, they are moving too quickly to stop and learn that someone whose body is aging might just be able to contribute a thing or two to the common dialogue – and that thing or two will be laced with wisdom, wit, and grace.<\/p>\n

Honey bees seem to flit from flower to flower. Never still. Always moving. But in their movement, they have a purpose, a job to be done. Watch one closely and you’ll see that it’s not\u00a0just<\/em> moving, but carrying out a profound task. One that I, who uses honey in my tea, personally appreciate.<\/p>\n

The same holds for the seniors in our midst. You might look upon them as they move more slowly up a set of stairs of down a store aisle and think that they are not doing much of import at all. And you’d be wrong. For, despite all that weighs them down relatead to aging, they are\u00a0living<\/em> and\u00a0moving<\/em> and making themselves part of society. Think about that next time you’re too tired to lift a finger. I know I will!<\/p>\n

So, although I missed National Honey Bee Day, I certainly give kudos to the tiny, buzzing creature that’s ever-moving and alive. And as for National Senior Citizens Day, well, why just a day? Why not a year? Why not all the time? Because, yes, theirs is still a vital contribution and an inspiration that has no cut-off time.<\/p>\n

Peace,<\/p>\n

Maureen<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I’m sorry I missed them: August 20 was National Honey Bee Day, and August 21 was National Senior Citizens Day. But I thought I’d make up for my omission by reflecting on something that seems to unite those two: \u00a0Rare beauty. We’ve read about the plight of honey bee colonies. How something seems to be…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":548,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[345,2207,2205,2206,2202,2209,30,2204,2208,2203],"class_list":["post-2107","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-aging","tag-aging-society","tag-bees","tag-honey","tag-honey-bees","tag-inspriation","tag-pain","tag-rare","tag-resilience","tag-senior-citizens"],"yoast_head":"\nWhat do honey bees and senior citizens have in common? - Good Days...Bad Days With Maureen Pratt<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2016\/08\/honey-bees-senior-citizens-common.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"What do honey bees and senior citizens have in common? - Good Days...Bad Days With Maureen Pratt\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I’m sorry I missed them: August 20 was National Honey Bee Day, and August 21 was National Senior Citizens Day. 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She expected to be writing scripts. God had other plans. A few years after her graduation, Maureen was diagnosed with a life-threatening case of organ-involved lupus. Her life turned upside down as she grappled with the effects of the illness and other health conditions that ensued. She was no stranger to serious health challenges; even as a child, Maureen had survived numerous bouts of pneumonia, flu, and other infections. But lupus made her take a fresh look at her life goals - and took herlifelong, strong Catholic Christian faith and writing in a direction she'd never imagined. Today, Maureen writes and speaks about walking with the Lord while living with chronic pain and illness. Her most recent book is \"Don't Panic!: How to Keep Going When the Going Gets Tough (Franciscan Media). She is also the author of, \"Peace in the Storm: Meditations on Chronic Pain & Illness\" (Image Books\/Randomhouse), \"Beyond Pain: Job, Jesus, and Joy\" (Twenty-Third Publications), \"The First Year: Hypothyroidism, Second Edition\" (Perseus) and \"Taking Charge of Lupus: How to Manage the Disease and Make the Most of Your LIfe.\" She writes the syndicated column, \"Living Well,\" for Catholic News Service, and has also written for Saint Anthony Messenger Magazine, Journey for Women Magazine, The Upper Room Magazine, LupusNow, and Arthritis Today. Maureen's health continues to be a challenge, however she feels honored to be able to bring her perspective, from experience and knowledge, to others. \"Good Days...Bad Days with Maureen Pratt\" is a new way for Maureen to reach people who carry the burden of illness and pain in their lives, or who care for someone who does. Through the blog, she hopes to bring issues of health, wellness, and spirit into focus and, especially, inspire others that, no matter what health challenges, illness, or hardships they endure, each person can find a good way to realize the wonderful potential God has placed within each heart and soul.","sameAs":["http:\/\/www.maureenpratt.com"],"url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/author\/mpratt"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2107","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/548"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2107"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2107\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2109,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2107\/revisions\/2109"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2107"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2107"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2107"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}