Resting on a Sunflower

While visiting Frampton Marsh I found a female Red-tailed Black Bumblebee dozing on the back of a sun flower. Sometimes, stationary bees are exhausted and benefit from a little sugar water left beside them which initiates revival. I imagine that this little lady had taken her fill of nectar and was now sleeping it off. I too find myself dozing after a good dinner, especially if I am placed in a comfortable armchair with a decent log crackling in the stove. The Red-tailed Black generally nests in holes in the ground, under stones and in old animal burrows. Somehow, the back of a sunflower on a warm day seems a far nicer spot upon which to sleep off one’s dinner.

Jean Piggot’s 1876 hymn Jesus I am Resting describes the peace and security we have in Christ:

Jesus, I am resting, resting

in the joy of what thou art;

I am finding out the greatness

of thy loving heart.

Thou hast bid me gaze upon thee,

as thy beauty fills my soul,

for by thy transforming power,

thou hast made me whole.

Her best line, however, comes in verse 4:

Ever lift thy face upon me

as I work and wait for thee;

resting 'neath thy smile, Lord Jesus,

earth's dark shadows flee.

I know Christians who are tired of church and take a break from Jesus. No. We should rather rest in Jesus, in the light of His beauty and the warmth of His being. Those who do so will rise even more satisfied than our little bee of Frampton Marsh.