We continue to find just enough food that is ripe to sustain the farm for another week, It’s almost August, and I am still amazed and awed that we are still producing anything on our farm this season. We struggled to even get produce in the ground this spring, due to the unusually wet conditions last fall and this spring. We are saddened by the loss of many crops like our potatoes and sweet corn, the former was washed out, and the latter never got planted because of wet fields. Yet, each week, I discover produce that is ready. I shouldn’t be surprised. I should have more faith in my purpose.
When one is doing something that fulfills their purpose, there is only one option for action, do it, even if it doesn’t work out as planned and possibly even if it doesn’t work out at all. The right action will always be right, regardless of the outcome. I can’t help but think of the bees right now. They are filling their hives with honey, made from the pollen they have gathered. They live their purpose so well, that they don’t even think about it. They simply do it. It is their path, yet they may not truly understand their purpose.
If a bee did give some thought to its purpose, it might think that it was serving its hive and the next generation of bees by collecting pollen to feed the hatching larvae in the hive. It is true, that this is a purpose for the bee to fulfill, but that particular imagined purpose is somewhat insignificant. In fact, it can be argued that the feeding the larvae in its hive so that the colony survives, pales in comparison when compared to its larger purpose. A large number of species of plants, critical producers in all imaginable food webs, requires the work of that bee and billions like her to deliver another generation. The bee’s purpose is to pollinate the flowers of the world, even though it may believe that its purpose is to feed its own colony. If those flowering plants cease to exist, entire food webs will collapse, leaving extinct species in its wake. In other words, the bee lives its purpose in faith, never truly knowing how important its impact is on the world!
I believe that we, like the bees, serve greater purposes than we can imagine, and all we need to do to fulfill that purpose is to follow our own authentic path, being exactly who we are supposed to be and doing what we are supposed to do. It is even altogether likely that few of us actually know our true purpose. Like the bee gathering daily pollen to feed its colony, we move through life doing what comes naturally to us and if we are living authentically, what we do will feel right. It is irrelevant whether what we do is successful all of the time. The bee would believe that her purpose is to collect pollen and she would indeed experience joy in living her life that way, but she is unaware of her greater contribution to all life on the planet. I think that it is wise to remember that what each of us does is way more important than any of us can imagine. When we do what resonates with our core being, we are on our own right path.