HOW DO YOU SAY GOOD-BYE IN THE LANGUAGE OF LOVE?

                 You matter to the last moment of your life, and we will do all we can,
                 not only to help  you die peacefully, but to help you live until you die.
                                                                                         Dame Cicely Saunders

HOW DO YOU SAY GOOD-BYE IN THE LANGUAGE OF LOVE?

Everybody adored my grandfather. Full of love, still waters running deep; he made me laugh. That is, until the last stage of his life.

His doctor gave him three months to live. He told him he needed a year. Shortly after Christmas in January, just after that year, he entered the hospital.

Our family had been summoned. We approached the hospital elevator. “No one under 12 is allowed in the critical care unit,” the sign read. My parents told my youngest sister that she could not visit. My father would stay with her. Later, I would relieve him.

I saw the crushed look on her face. It haunted me all the way up the elevator and down the long, dark corridors. I watched my other sister tremble as we neared his room.

Our grandfather met our gaze. His sunny smile greeted us. Protruding tubes were out of place on a body that had always been a call to comfort others with hugs. Delighted to see him, we smiled and rushed to hug him anyway...taking care, as much as teenagers can. Dying did not seem present. Love was. Once engaged, we stepped back and met his eyes. Where’s Sam? I flinched as our mother told him that she would not be coming. Wendy looked down at her shoes.

Our mother left to get water for him. Though not groomed to be friends, my sister and I shot each other a glance. A plan was made.

“Did you see the stairs outside his room?” My sister said, “Yes.” “I am going to run down and get Samantha. We’ll run upstairs and be back before there’s trouble.” My sister lit up. My grandfather gave us each a conspiratorial look.

Downstairs, I said I would stay with Samantha. Not exactly a lie. I waited until the elevator closed and asked, “Do you want to see Grandpa?” An emphatic nod ushered a beaming smile across Samantha’s face. “Then grab my hand.” We sprinted up the stairs that opened only two doors away from my grandfather’s room. Inside, my grandfather’s body heaved a sigh of relief. Samantha was doe-eyed with wonder. She was so happy to see him and he laughed upon seeing her.

Moments later my father entered. No scene, no drama. My grandfather had a calming effect on my parents. Today was no exception. The love between a grandfather and his granddaughters was so overflowing that the promise of an enduring connection, transcending all, would remain.

Two days later, we learned that our grandfather had just died.

It brought such joy, that ending revolution; living close to the edge of intimacy as it unfurled, sharing our last goodbyes.

CHRISTMAS IS A SPIRIT THAT LIVES IN MY HEART

The Christmas spirit — love — changes hearts and lives.

                                                                 Pat Boone

Christmas is a Spirit that lives in my heart. This past weekend I ate pie, shared stories, and wrote holiday cards with a dear friend.

We’ve shared this tradition of writing holiday cards over the years. But we also shared it often as three people. Robert was with us then. A year ago Robert passed on to that other shore.

Marie and Robert were married for fifty years. It would have been too abrupt to write holiday cards without first hearing Marie’s Robert poems, Marie’s and Robert’s Warp and Woof poems or Marie’s sojourn into new life.

Marie’s poems emerge from the bone and marrow of her soul. My heart gasps with Robert being invoked again as a living, breathing presence. He is gone...and not gone...as Marie invites in a new relatedness with her world.

Photo By Karla Boyd

At a particular rock and tree formation, Marie shared a special ‘Robert moment’. That was on our first walk. On other walks, we wended around trails and marveled at Sutro baths and Golden Gate Park gardens. On our last day, we delighted in seeing double crested Cormorants, a Brown Pelican; we shared secrets and sighed at the burnt orange sunset as the golden sun dropped into the ocean.

Photo By Karla Boyd

This past weekend, our conversations teetered at the edge of vulnerable intersections, and stumbled into unchartered waters and engaged Process as if a She. It's as if a Presence, a Soft Feminine Presence that lives within us all, called us out from mundane familiarity into embryonic encounters that engage a deeper flow with life. We opened more in its unfamiliarity. We are, to borrow Marie’s words, finding our place

in the flow, the every moving piecing together, coming together,

of things in their own way, in their own time, reassuring,

sustaining and satisfying.

Holiday cards finished, we sit at Marie’s dining room table as the last wisps of sunset become dusk. With the lights not turned on, we encounter a quieting intimacy.

         Photo By Karla Boyd

“Today, I realize how much of your careful arrangement of everything reminds me of my grandmother.” Christmas Spirit has engaged Marie and I all weekend. Christmas Spirit: A LOVING Presence unfolding warming encounters in soft, sparkling radiance.

“I felt Christmas Spirit when I was with my grandparents,” I say near the end of Marie’s and my time together. When I was five, seven and ten, alone or with a friend, spending a week with my grandparents in the summer, Christmas was there.

When alone, I’d sit at the breakfast table with my grandparents. After eating, Goldie would ask, “What do you want to do today?” Christmas Spirit lived in the ordinary way we designed a trip to the local swimming pool; or travels anywhere with my grandfather when my grandmother needed some solitude. It lived in my walking alone to the corner store to buy dinner preparations.

That common conversation of three souls unfolding our day never let us down.

My grandmother’s hearing was impaired when she was three years old. On occasion, my grandparents sat on their front porch rocking. “Karl, what’s that sound,” she’d ask. “Oh, don’t get excited, it’s just the kids climbing out the bedroom window onto the roof, listening to our conversation.” We’d scramble back into the room. I can still hear my grandfather’s laughter.

My grandmother and I would sit in a swing on the side porch, my bare feet bouncing off the wall of the church next door. My grandmother never meddled but was interested in everything I said. We spoke of simple things in the most extraordinary way.

Close to dinner, my grandfather conspiratorially called me into the pantry room. He’d reach into the cupboard and pull out sugary orange slice wedges. “Don’t tell your grandmother, now.”

Christmas is a Spirit that lives in my heart. It’s evoked every time a moment is freed into life’s deep rhythm. It’s an everyday, ordinary time made sacred.

What about you, dear Reader, have you discovered Christmas Spirit living in your heart?

"ALL YOU NEED IS LOVE"

            Any negative emotion that lasts longer than 90 seconds is the result 
            of negative self- talk and storytelling by the left-brain. My stroke of insight 
            is that the core of my right hemisphere consciousness is completely committed
            to the expression of peace, love, joy, and compassion in the world.

                                                                             Jill Bolte Taylor, Neuroanatomist

            There is plenty of good love available—love that heals our heart, melts 
            our needs, and makes our spirit sing.

                                                                             Melody Beattie

                                                  "ALL YOU NEED IS LOVE"

Love is simple. It asks for nothing in return. When a friend requests me to send some positive energy, I do. If a family member writes that her cancer is back, I send love. It’s now part of my morning observance to send love to people, animals and issues who enter my consciousness.

What I don’t do is let my left-brain negative thoughts send messages with the LOVE, such as, “Maggie give up your political views.” My left-brain doesn’t get a vote on what’s bad for Maggie. Those thoughts go into the trash.

But LOVE? Love I can send Maggie for the present situation that she’s facing.

Until I read Jill Bolte Taylor’s book, My Stroke of Insight, I didn’t know we could simply pick the negative self-talk “weeds” from our brain. My left brain, like yours, has been programmed to talk trash. Those thoughts are weeds and they’ve got to go.

Today, a few words into writing this blog, weeds showed up. When the electrician arrived for a ten-minute check on my breaker-box, it turned into a three-hour affair. With my computer shut down, I was “hired” to confirm what outlets belonged to which breaker.

I heard my brain complain. It took a few attempts, but I succeeded in tossing out the negative talk. I aligned with being friendly. So my day wasn’t going as planned. When the electrician left, I sent him love; me, too, and those impacted by the delay of promises that I had made. I sent love to my blog. I sat in the sun a bit, connected with a few friends online and wham, I was back in the zone. Ready to write, grateful that the electricity was back on.

In my last blog, Healing the Cosmic Split, I shared cosmology stories about the UNITY FIELD. It’s this field of energy that our right brain hemispheres tap into, sending loving, peaceful, joyful and compassionate vibrations. I’m part of that Field. So are you.

What happens if we routinely are sending and receiving love from that field? It aligns us, heals us and unites us. Who knows the impact it has on our crying world?

Dear Reader, do you want to send Love? Okay, take a moment now.

With your heart open and your mind quiet, send one person LOVE. Send LOVE to any troubling situation.

If you like this moment of sending love, what’s one thing you can do to keep your vibrations tuned to this LOVE channel and the Unity Field?

HEALING THE COSMIC SPLIT

The Chandogya Upanishad

In the beginning was only Being,

One without a second.

Out of himself he brought forth the cosmos

And entered into everything in it.

There is nothing that does not come from him.

You are that, Svetaketu; you are that.

Svetaketu is us all: humans, animals, birds, trees and rocks. Like Svetaketu, we don’t realize that we are THAT, that we’re ONE BEING.

Our world view is that we’re separate; entitled to do as we please. We don’t have to answer to all life forms. We aren’t intrinsically related. Deuteronomy tells us we have a choice to make. We can pretend we’re not connected and wreak havoc (death) or we can see that every action we make impacts our collective whole.

            New Living Translation
            Today I have given you the choice between life and death, between blessings

            and curses. Now I call on heaven and earth to witness the choice you make. 

            Oh, that you would choose life.

In the teachings of mystic Isaac Luria, God performed a “tzimtzum”, what Kabbalists call a tremendous act of love. In this story, God created special vessels to contain Divine Light as he brought forth the world. The light was so brilliant that many vessels, unable to contain this radiance, shattered, flinging shards all over creation.

Some Light returned to Source; some got trapped in the shards. It became our collective life purpose to gather this lost light...to let our light shine. To choose LIFE. We have the choice to participate in Tikkun Olam (world repair) by healing our own inner splits.

What’s a “split”? It’s like that reactive impulse to lash out when someone’s unkind. We heal it by slowing down, remembering our connection-letting in the LIGHT. As I reflect on this past week, I hear again my sister’s daughters saying heated words as my eldest niece was preparing to embark upon her new life.

This family has had more than their share of loss, some tragic. Transitions are taxing. It’s where their Light is trapped in sorrow. While harsh words were spoken, the three adults remained calm, supporting each sister to speak her deeper truths. Shining our light where it was dark. Fences got mended and voices were heard. Now, if the adults could extend that to each other when tensions are high, we’d heal the cosmic split more quickly. And we do, every time we calm the waters.

Oprah asks Ms. Angelou in an interview, “What words do you turn to for comfort.”

Love,” Ms. Angelou answers.

"[Love] may be that energy which keeps the stars in the firmament. It may be the energy that keeps the blood running through our veins.”

This is soul work: turning to kindness as loss surfaces. Loving ourselves and loving each other.

Love gives us the strength to participate in a great Tikkun Olam, healing our splits. We’re called upon to transform our unworthiness. We are called to let go of resentments.

This LOVE is WHAT we are. Ubuntu. You are that, Svetaketu; you are that.

Freed, this LIGHT gives hope. Dr. Rachel Remen says:

           We can learn to see [these sparks] in ourselves and others. When we
           spot one, we blow on it and strengthen it.

Dear Reader, what’s one split that you will start healing today? Can you see the light shining in someone that you love?

THIS IS THE BIGGEST ONE ON RECORD, FOLKS

Girl Scouts woke up early one morning in the Sangre De Cristo Mountains, giggling. We peeked out from collapsed tents, swept together in a heap from the flash flood. Rain drenched and breathless with laughter, we crawled out into thick mud.

On our travels to the Rio Grande, college friends and I encounter lightning ripping open the sky. Thunder crashed...lightshow and rumblings.

Later, we wended our way around a mountain bend in Mexico as donkeys grazed, our eyes meeting massive red rock vistas; until the snow came, stopping us in our tracks. We hovered outside, with no plan, just laughter. Later, someone says it was the first snow in 100 years!

In Gila, New Mexico, a flash flood pounded the road. We forded the stream. A gentleman later sits with us drinking coffee. “This is the worst storm we’ve had in fifty years. Glad you got across. You could have sunk, hydroplaned or blown out your carburetors. All the roads are down. Stay put!” Laughing, we found an abandoned shack. We holed up for about a week, hiking in between showers, waiting on the road to be dug out.

Stormy weather warnings came as we neared Death Valley. We’re treated, instead, to the first wildflowers in over 100 years.

Before I boarded my plane for Phoenix days ago, I drew angel cards: Creativity, Willingness, Play and Humor. Hmmm, good ones.

But I did not wake up laughing this past Monday at 3:00 am.

Thunder exploded. Lightning snatched my dreams. Puppy dog is plastered against my leg. “It’s okay, baby. It’s okay, doggers,” I say to the dogs outside my bedroom door. But my thoughts aren’t quiet.

They said the storms are quick. Something isn’t right. Any doors blown open? How are the dogs? Horses? Friends? I can’t let the dogs out; the roof is metal. Might get struck by lightning.

I sat in my friends’ home, quieting my mind. Electric sky kept falling, thunder cracked. Sitting in their Great Room behind a solid wall of glass with no separation between the outside and inside. Nature invited herself in and she planned to stay.  

My thoughts return to horses. I can’t see them from here. I consider dashing to the barn. But what if I fall, or lightning strikes. Or the lights go out? What good am I, then?

I calm the dogs. I sense the horses are okay. I say mantrams and send love to each horse. I send love to the dogs. I send love to the storm, to Arizona, to all animals and people. I send love to my friends who are fast asleep, hearing only ocean waves as they drift. I let myself feel successful, having kept everyone safe.

I calm down. With lightning flashing and thunder bursting, I meditate and send out more love.

I confirm my intuition: flash flood warning in effect all day. I cuddle the dogs, sending out more love. I send love to the horse handlers, family and friends. Please keep everyone safe. In a momentary storm lull, I let the dogs out and visit the horses.

I remember what a mentor said about recent earthquakes and storms:

“If more people don't do the loving shift within themselves, the earth will move even more.

I visit the horses again, send love, give dog cookies and soon, I’m inundated with phone calls, emails, texts and Facebook messages.

Roads are down. Can you feed the horses? Special blends. Drat the phone went dead. Which bin?

Muddy dog walks, horsey visits, communications, a friend stops over. I finally breathe easy about 4:00 pm.

I had it right earlier: LAUGH. Let the tents fall; stay stuck in Gila. EVERYONE IS SAFE AND FED. Happy, I take all three dogs to swim and chase each other around the pool. Later, we do dog walks and a few more visits to the horses.

Good ol’ Southwest, never lets me down.

So, Reader, what adventure helped you weather the storms? And what loving shifts will you make for the good of all?

GETTING TO YES AND STAYING THERE!

How many of you have gone down a road so long that you think it’s your contribution?

As early as five years old, people asked if I could help with their problems. It wasn’t just children; it was adults, too. Later, I found careers that put this skill to use. One of my bosses once asked me if my being successful in resolving problems was because I wanted her job. Huh?

Yes, but, if you keep on doing the same thing, what do you get? In my case: More problems!

Luckily, what also came naturally was seeing the good in everyone. I see positive futures and how to get there. Mid-careers, I found my true calling as a leadership consultant.

Being asked to help others solve problems did not disappear overnight, and it kept negative world views operational. Leadership development sees what’s working in people and organizations. Helping others to solve problems keeps you seeing what’s wrong.

It took integrity, transformation, and the support of mentors and friends for me to quit this habit. I was like a worn out dog who had given birth to too many litters.

Appreciative Inquiry, a leadership model, has this saying: “What you appreciate, appreciates.” If you’re constantly available to help others solve problems, you’re calling in more problems. If you want peace, then appreciate the peace in the world. You need to "see" what you want and that allows you to build that on that foundation and move into that pathway.

If want more wild horses, elephants and chimpanzees roaming free, appreciate the ones that are. If you want people happy and well, see them happy and well. “What you appreciate, appreciates.”

I’m no longer available for problems. I work with colleagues and clients who say “yes” to living and building on their strengths. It’s a myth that negative images inspire people to fix stuff; it brings people down. Seeing what works inspires action.

Today, someone on Facebook posted a video of Ellen talking with Gladys from Austin, Texas. I laughed and laughed! http://youtu.be/-jeCL9f2NNI. We’re all Gladys; we want it both ways. We want the good stuff while we dabble in the dark and negative. And we lose out on free trips to the Ellen show. 

In my life and work, I’ve joined a myriad of Facebook positive voices that post positive media communications. We’re creating a vortex of good energy to dip into.

There are many doing this; https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=486122528080113 and https://www.facebook.com/iamlivingpositive/info are two. Namaste Global Vision also shares inspiration: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Namaste-Global-Vision/212980952072457

This past weekend, I heard some difficult and sad news. When I shared it with a mentor, she encouraged me to offer my joy in the next days and months. Intelligent lady. She knew I couldn’t dwell on this sadness and be able to shift into my joy.

Monday, I posted this on Facebook:

JOIN ME IN WRITING THIS FUN-LOVING "BLOG" ABOUT JOY AND HAPPINESS.

Two Words. I’ll start.

The next person adds two words.

It posted for three days with twelve contributors:

Me:   I Delight

Tamara:  In Animal’s

Wendy: Loving Expressions

Words: Begin Within

 Debbie: Sharing Gratitude

 Me: For Unseen

Castagne: Bubbles of Joy

Kim:  I Can't Imagine

 Sharon: Universal Peace

 Me: And Yet

Sabia: Love Reigns

  Ambika: Inviting You

Kim: To Feel

Sandy:  The Warmth

Kim: And Power

Merrilee: Of Kindness

Me: That Gives

Kim: Us EVERYTHING!!!! 

Reader, what are your two words? What shift did you make to a positive path?

MOVE OVER PHILLY, THERE’S A NEW SANDWICH IN TOWN

My next blog might be “Confessions of a Vegan”, ‘cause I am 97% there.

                                                                                               Karla Boyd

               A vegetarian is a person who won't eat anything that can have children.                    

                                                                                                David Brenner

Yesterday and today, I ate in peace. Today I created my version of a Philly Cheese Sandwich recipe. For me what was missing in the old recipe was LOVE.

The film industry has a clause that states, “no animals were harmed in the making of this film.” I, too, say that no animals were harmed in the making of this sandwich! I might be more precise, by the way, in declaring that statement. While The American Humane Society is laudable in their work to protect animals in Hollywood, Pat Derby, The Lady and her Tiger (http://www.pawsweb.org/) lived to tell a different tale.

But now I’m off track. I need to return to what let me eat in peace. (Please see my other blog on this subject: CONFESSIONS OF A VEGETARIAN: Working My Way Back T... It was a worthy detour, but back to the “show.” Here is my mouthwatering vegan, Move Over Philly, There’s A New Sandwich In Town recipe:

Ingredients:

One Slice Daiya cheddar cheese-(http://us.daiyafoods.com/our-products)

One half white or yellow onion-caramelized or grilled

Garlic chopped and sautéed

Fresh Ginger sautéed

Grilled veggies, either roasted red pepper or zucchini does nicely

Gluten Free, Vegan Bun or Bread your choice

1 teaspoon Chia Seeds

Tomato Grilled, Sautéed, or Raw

Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Salt and Pepper

Love-“No animal was harmed in the…”

Cooking Instructions:

Caramelize onions, sauté garlic, ginger and veggies…

Fry one bread slice with cheese and Chia seeds on top.

Fry the other slice alone.

Add veggies onto sandwich along with tomato.

Cook a bit more…

When cheese is melted, bring out your best dinnerware.

Eat.

Heaven…..

Of course like a good healthy Philly sandwich, it will drip all over you…

LOVE’S SWEET BREATH

"White Mane" by Donna Bernstein, (Used with Permission; www.donnabernstein.com)

I’ve been in development. The chaff is shaken from my life. What mattered was engagement and being there: for others, animals, world; and yes, for me.

Okay, maybe that’s the crux. Despite efforts to the contrary, my needs were put on the “back burner.” I’ve been in a shift for years.

When my body first got sick, this lesson came: “Be she who is Sacrificed, Martyred or be the Server.” With early life training in the first two, I thought I had transformed.

As samskaras go, this complex was formidable. (Samskaras: Sanskrit word meaning inherited previous-life tendencies that are the psyche’s impressions.) It was quite a storm.

This past year has found me receiving. Receiving love, grace, gifts, generosities, acknowledgement, wisdom and encouragement.

A week ago, I found a gift of desert-colored socks in my mailbox...along with a beautiful card with a horse on the front. My friend wrote: "Let this gift be a symbol of a universal law; 'Ask and you shall receive.'”

Dan Fogelberg wrote this in a song: “Changing horses in the middle of a stream gets you old.” That’s true. It gets you worn and hungry, too. And through others’ love and faith in me, it's getting me free. Old, it turns out, is a temporary condition.

I once saw my life five to fifteen years out and was given road maps. Now I sense opaque openings of light and hope that guide me into new moments.

Before, my practice was breathe in and breathe out. Notice. Be aware. Imbue uplifting passages into my mind and heart. Discover my place of belonging. Relish relationship harmony.

Now it is different. Breathe in and breathe out is not mine to do. It does. I allow. My highest calling is love. Love to me. Love to you. Love to our world. Love to the cranky neighbor who complains. Love to the Navaho Nation, the trees, animals and their people:

http://www.naztoday.com/news/assayii-lake-fire-update----june-p-m/article9987e6d4-f697-11e3-b0a9-0017a43b2370.html

Love to people who curse life. Love to those who don't. Love to family. Love to birthdays. Love to animal stewards. Love to those who kill. Love to the peacemakers. Love to organizations hoarding money. Love to new work honored. Love to wading into new pools together.

I wrote this poem in praise of this fresh air that is blowing through me:

Winds Countenance

Winds countenance

Deliberate, swaying,

Gentle in freshness

Of airs

Wiser than I it seems

Who lies best

Happily always

Fully embraced

By penetrating heat

Of Mother Sun

The wind awakens me

This hour

To freshness of day

Hints of dewdrops

An invitation to climb

Wind calls me from my place of rest,

Covered as though I am

In spiritual words that drink me

I know their cup of

Freshness needed

Reawakening vast souls,

In modern light

Hopkins, Chief Seattle, Jane

Goodall, Thoreau, Emmett Fox

Twelve steps, twenty and eight

No wonder I need breeze

Welcomed stirrings

To pull me out

From my den

My old life passed on to where all incarnations go when complete. So did the personality structure that housed it. Chunks of me disappeared. I do not need to divorce or harm my ego to gain new ground. That is not the way.

LOVE is the STRONGEST of all POWERS...ego, fully embraced, gives way as rivers merge into the SEA. Love is bigger than all negative conversations, images and events.

We need a renaissance. That is what I learned, stripped down. We don’t need to fight for the animals, the world or ourselves. We all do need infusions of love.  

How about you, Reader? When has your life been stripped down, transformed? When you were infused with the sweet breath of fresh air?

IN THE NAME OF LOVE: Let The Bees Be

In the name of love, we need to find better ways.

The other day, with sweltering heat engulfing me (which is my favorite), I sat for just a bit in the sun at the local pool. I was ready to dive into my book, Beyond Innocence, Autobiography In Letters by Jane Goodall.

Instead, a neighbor greeted me. Our conversation led one thing into the other. One of my neighbor’s friends hurried down the steps to plunge in. I was standing on the other steps, readying myself to enter the cool waters.  In that moment, a bee stung me. Not just “ouch”, but time out for reflection.

When I had Lyme disease, I was highly allergic to bee stings. After a few words with the women at the pool, I went back home. While I have been stung only a few times, it was my first sting in a while. I had the meds, anyway, and I used them. Safety first. Epinephrine or homeopathic high dose remedies? I chose the latter. I was breathing easily, no headache, and the swelling on my arm, while near my heart, was not a balloon. Great! I am truly no longer allergic. Yippee!

While dashing about, I recalled my conversation with the three women before I left the pool. It was about African bees. In “Trip To Chimfunshi,” I describe the outbreak of bees into what was to be a notable relocation of baby chimpanzees. And notable, it became. http://namasteglobalvision.s3-website-us-east 1.amazonaws.com/NamasteTriptoChimfunshi%20copy.pdf 

What most disheartened me about the sting started at the pool. Even in the face of my calm demeanor, one woman wanted to drown the bees. Wow, how quickly the conversation turned to ’killing as the first solution'.  http://consultingforpassion.blogspot.com/2014/05/choosing-to-live-and-let-live.html

In the name of love, if we are going to put an end to the killing paradigm, we must find better ways. [1] 

I did not start out to write about bees but about other loving solutions. Because of that day, and the communications since, the bees leave Jane Goodall and her contribution in wait. http://www.janegoodall.org/study-corner-biography   So, bees it is.

The loss of bees was so important in 2011 that the keynote speaker, Ariana Stozzi, introduced the bees into our International Big Sky Horse Conference. By 2011, bees were a global concern. http://www.earthaction.org/2012/02/ccd.html 

So how is the world responding?  PBS Nature is offering a positive way. http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/episodes/silence-of-the-bees/how-can-you-help-the-bees/36/ 

Another way comes from: “We Save Bees”. What a loving solution.Visit groups like: http://honeylove.org/rescuebees/ and  http://www.wesavebees.com/.

One year, I did find a local beekeeper who removed bees and a nest from my home. Neither the beekeeper nor I were stung.  The bees were happy and continued to live.

Dear Reader, are you willing to explore? What is one practice you will engage in that sustains life in our precious ecosystem?

As for me, I close with an old favorite of mine from the intrepid “Sixties”:

Happiness runs in a circular motion.

Everyone is a part of everything anyway.

You can have everything if you let yourself be.

                                                     Donovan

[1] When I went to Africa, I did not realize how Apis Mellifica was made. Bees are killed in its preparation. Two homeopathic remedies for bee stings (vegetarian, not vegan), are Sulfur and Histaminum. Epi, of course, involves animal experimentation that both harms and kills animals.