Psalm 19
St. John’s United Church Sunday Service – September 25th, 2016 Scripture: Psalm 19 (VU 740) Reader: Allan Collier Reflection: Rev. Karen Verveda SCRIPTURE READING: Psalm 19 To the leader. A Psalm of David. 1 The heavens are telling the glory of God; and the firmament* proclaims his handiwork. 2 Day to day pours forth speech, and night to night declares knowledge. 3 There is no speech, nor are there words; their voice is not heard; 4 yet their voice* goes out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In the heavens* he has set a tent for the sun, 5 which comes out like a bridegroom from his wedding canopy, and like a strong man runs its course with joy. 6 Its rising is from the end of the heavens, and its circuit to the end of them; and nothing is hidden from its heat. The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul; the decrees of the LORD are sure, making wise the simple; 8 the precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the LORD is clear, enlightening the eyes; 9 the fear of the LORD is pure, enduring for ever; the ordinances of the LORD are true and righteous altogether. 7
1
More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey, and drippings of the honeycomb. 10
Moreover by them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward. 12 But who can detect their errors? Clear me from hidden faults. 13 Keep back your servant also from the insolent;* do not let them have dominion over me. Then I shall be blameless, and innocent of great transgression. 11
14
Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer.
REFLECTION: Sweeter than Honey Psalm 19 is our focus text for this morning. It is an obvious choice for the Season of Creation, beginning in such a beautiful way: The heavens are telling the glory of God; the firmament proclaims God’s handiwork. The psalm evokes images of an inky black night-sky filled with stars … slowly flooding with colour and light as dawn draws near … the sun rising and then making its way across the sky … warming the earth … until finally setting once again in a brilliant display … sinking below the horizon … the quiet of dusk settling and the wonderful moment of the appearance of the first star. Pausing long enough in one’s day to follow the sun’s journey across the sky can still evoke a sense of wonder … awe … gratitude. So I confess I was taken a little by surprise by one writer who describes these first six verses of the psalm as presenting a tragic picture.
2
The heavens tell the glory of God … yes … but, notice, their voice is not heard. The whole of creation communicates God’s goodness … but … somehow humans do not have the ears to hear or receive the gift. Their voice goes out … but … their voice is not heard. The psalmist says nothing about why this is so … just that it is so. The knowledge offered by the heavens is not received. And when we come to verse seven there’s an abrupt change. Heaven and earth disclose God but it is God’s Law -- that revives the human soul. In fact for the next five verses the psalmist extols the gift of God’s Law—it revives the soul … enlightens the eyes … rejoices the heart … it is more to be desired than gold … sweeter than honey. My guess is that initially the psalmist’s words seem strange. In fact I would guess that some of us might be tempted to play editor and reverse the order of the psalm. I often hear people express delight in how a walk in the woods or by the ocean revives their soul. How does God’s law revive the soul? It’s hard for many of us to even hear the word law without associating it with experiences of legalism or authoritarianism. Maybe it is God’s Law whose voice we have trouble hearing? Well … let’s put these initial thoughts and questions about our scripture reading on the back burner to simmer for a bit while we spend some time with Mark Winston and his book Bee Time reflecting on honey, the golden, molten goodness given to us freely by honeybees. Just as today’s psalm celebrates the wonder of creation while also signaling that something has gone awry, and needs healing, Mark wants those who care about bees and beekeepers to be more aware that when it comes to honey, and to bees, all is not as it should be. According to Mark there is a dark underbelly to the honey that is sold on our supermarket shelves with enough intrigue to fit comfortably in an international crime thriller. There is big money involved in an epidemic of mislabeling, toxic residues, tariff avoidance, and honey adulteration. In fact in 2010 the American Food & Drug Administration announced indictments against 11 German and Chinese executives, six companies, and their US representatives, charging them with avoiding $80 million in honey tariffs and 3
selling honey tainted with banned antibiotics. According to the Globe & Mail it was the largest food fraud in American history. The scam was elaborate. To avoid the US tariff on honey from China, it was labeled as originating in countries that pay little or no tariff and the shipping paperwork was altered. In addition drums containing the illicit honey were mislabeled as molasses or sugar syrup to avoid raising concerns about how much honey was entering the US. Between 2002 and 2006 over 600 shipments illegally entered the US. Much of this honey was contaminated by chloramphenicol a broad-spectrum antibiotic, presumably used by Chinese beekeepers but not approved for use by beekeepers in the US. Samples were tested in Germany and if found to contain the rogue antibiotic they were shipped through other countries to reduce suspicion. Shipments that were discovered and rejected were relabeled and rerouted through other countries and managed to evade detection when landing again in the US. These are not isolated incidents. Indian honey, banned in 27 countries of the European Union because of lead and antibiotic contamination, was imported and sold in the US. Other shipments not addressed by the 2010 indictments were found to be contaminated with chlordimeform, a miticide banned in most countries because it causes urinary bladder cancer. The 2010 indictments resulted in five guilty pleas, and sentences of 18 – 30 months. Indictments against the remaining individuals in Germany and China have yet to go to court and two of the largest honey processing companies in the US, long suspected by beekeepers of importing and adulterating illegal honey, have agreed to pay 3 million in fines, and are currently embroiled in a class action lawsuit brought on behalf of all commercial beekeeping operations in the US. The trade in illegal and contaminated honey is not just the work of deceptive offshore trading partners. Some of the largest and most long-established honey packers in the US knowingly buying mislabeled, transshipped or possibly altered honey so that they can sell it cheaper than those companies who demand safety, quality, and rigorously inspected honey. In addition to the troubling issues of illegal and contaminated honey, honey adulteration is also rampant. In fact honey is third on the list of adulterated foods, 4
just behind olive oil and milk. Unscrupulous packers add high-fructose corn syrup, malt sweeteners, rice syrup, brown sugar, or barley malt to honey. Particularly common is the high-fructose corn syrup, which is produced by industrially converting the glucose in corn to fructose, thereby making it taste sweeter, and costing one fifth the price of honey. Adulterated honey can be detected but it requires some sophisticated tests that few laboratories are capable of conducting. And while it might be important to beekeepers and honey lovers it’s not enough of a big ticket item to get the regulators overly interested in conducting mass sampling of supermarket honeys. A 2011 survey showed that 75 percent of honey on store shelves had no pollen in it. All honey has at least a few grains of pollen that remain in it after normal straining and that pollen is the only definitive way to determine country and even region of origin. A complete lack of pollen indicates one of two things: the jar has no honey in it, or the honey has been ultra-filtered by heating and forcing the honey through tiny filters to remove all of the pollen. It’s no secret to anyone in the honey business that the only reason to ultrafilter honey is to hide where it initially came from. Honey has been valued by millions for centuries for its flavor and nutritional value and this is precisely what is completely removed by the ultra-filtration process. In the language of the psalmist, honey with no pollen, is honey that has been altered such that its particular flavour (or voice) is not tasted (or heard). The honey offering of the bees is not received or experienced as the amazing gift that it is. And that is just the ‘dark side’ of honey. There’s a whole lot more that could be said about the dark side of bee keeping. Combined environmental stressors are leading to the collapse of bee colonies around the planet. Annual global colony loss of 30-40% is now routine and losses can go as high as 100% for some beekeepers. You may have heard that Vancouver Island lost 90% of its bee colonies the winter of 2009-2010. The industrialization of beekeeping in the last 30-40 years with its dependence on artificial feed, pesticides, and antibiotics; and this alongside contemporary farming practices such as treating single crop fields with toxic insecticides, weed killers that eliminate alternative forage for the bees, and profusely applied fungicides, not to mention an increasing array of honey bee pests and diseases that have been introduced or have become more serious 5
due to pesticide and antibiotic resistance … all these combine to create a perfect storm of conditions for an epic colony collapse. A 2010 study of beeswax comb led to the discovery of residues of 121 different pesticides in the comb, many of which have a toxic effect on the bees, some of which were not even registered for use anymore. It is not any one pesticide that is causing the decline it is the suite of chemistry and the chemical load that is causing the problem. The chemical soup is definitely having a negative impact on bee behavior and survival. There is a very real way in which the wonder of buzzing bees is not being heard. At Bible Study this week it was our reflections on verse 13 of Psalm 19 that seemed to open up our understanding of the psalm. It’s a verse I’ve never really paid much attention to before: Keep back your servant also from the insolent; do not let them have dominion over me. Then I shall be blameless and innocent of great transgression. We shared stories of what it is like when we get tangled up in conflict with others whom we perceive as insolent or proud. In our desire to “unseat them” we can find ourselves caught up in feeling and thinking and acting in ways that are not us at our best. We can perhaps imagine the not yet crowned King David, shepherd boy from Bethlehem whose spirituality and sense of God’s presence was shaped by his location on the Judean hillsides, the expansive views of the valley, and open and seemingly endless skies, by the wonder of the sun in its orbit in contrast to his own smallness as a shepherd boy tending sheep on the hillsides, now finding himself in conflict with insolent or proud King Saul who did not want to give David the throne. The prophet’s anointing and the people’s praise would not have helped David’s sense of humility. We can imagine it was a challenge for David to stay grounded in his shepherd boy sense of self and relationship with God. And yet, it seems that he remembers and knows the joy of being grounded in God’s laws and commandments and ordinances. This psalm is definitely a prayer of longing that he not get caught up in the power plays, that he not get stuck in a sense of entitlement, or on the pedestal of popularity, prestige or power but that he stay grounded in spiritual humility. We might be able to relate when we think of times in our life when we have known the goodness and joy of a life grounded in gospel principles and values. 6
Mark ends his chapter about ‘dirty honey’ describing what he experienced as a cleansing antidote. He spent some time at an Apicultural Society Honey Show where beekeepers bring their honey to be adjudicated. From the judge’s perspective honey from the hive is in its most perfect state. Judging is based on subtle deviations from that perfection. As one judge put it, “Everything we’re looking for is an adverse result of processing”. Mark describes the experience of being surrounded by a spirit of humility that grows out of care and a desire for right relationship with bees, out of a deep appreciation of honey, out of a willingness to be guided by the principles and values that prevail among beekeepers who wish to be known by their peers and their customers for the unmarred quality of their honey, as a breath of fresh air. It’s a whole different mindset than that of company executives scheming to produce as much honey and get it onto as many supermarket shelves as possible and at any cost. No doubt is easy to lose yourself if you go into battle with these executives or their companies as well. No wonder it is a breath of fresh air to spend time with a community of practice focused on the awe and wonder of honey and on how best to honour and share this gift of the bees with others. Holy One, don’t let me get caught up with the insolent … keep me grounded in humility – for then I know who I am and I know what matters and I can hear the voice of the stars and the sun and the voice of God reminding me of my rightful place in the web of creation. Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to YOU, O God, my rock and my redeemer. This is more to be desired than gold and sweeter than honey. Amen.
7
1
More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey, and drippings of the honeycomb. 10
Moreover by them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward. 12 But who can detect their errors? Clear me from hidden faults. 13 Keep back your servant also from the insolent;* do not let them have dominion over me. Then I shall be blameless, and innocent of great transgression. 11
14
Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer.
REFLECTION: Sweeter than Honey Psalm 19 is our focus text for this morning. It is an obvious choice for the Season of Creation, beginning in such a beautiful way: The heavens are telling the glory of God; the firmament proclaims God’s handiwork. The psalm evokes images of an inky black night-sky filled with stars … slowly flooding with colour and light as dawn draws near … the sun rising and then making its way across the sky … warming the earth … until finally setting once again in a brilliant display … sinking below the horizon … the quiet of dusk settling and the wonderful moment of the appearance of the first star. Pausing long enough in one’s day to follow the sun’s journey across the sky can still evoke a sense of wonder … awe … gratitude. So I confess I was taken a little by surprise by one writer who describes these first six verses of the psalm as presenting a tragic picture.
2
The heavens tell the glory of God … yes … but, notice, their voice is not heard. The whole of creation communicates God’s goodness … but … somehow humans do not have the ears to hear or receive the gift. Their voice goes out … but … their voice is not heard. The psalmist says nothing about why this is so … just that it is so. The knowledge offered by the heavens is not received. And when we come to verse seven there’s an abrupt change. Heaven and earth disclose God but it is God’s Law -- that revives the human soul. In fact for the next five verses the psalmist extols the gift of God’s Law—it revives the soul … enlightens the eyes … rejoices the heart … it is more to be desired than gold … sweeter than honey. My guess is that initially the psalmist’s words seem strange. In fact I would guess that some of us might be tempted to play editor and reverse the order of the psalm. I often hear people express delight in how a walk in the woods or by the ocean revives their soul. How does God’s law revive the soul? It’s hard for many of us to even hear the word law without associating it with experiences of legalism or authoritarianism. Maybe it is God’s Law whose voice we have trouble hearing? Well … let’s put these initial thoughts and questions about our scripture reading on the back burner to simmer for a bit while we spend some time with Mark Winston and his book Bee Time reflecting on honey, the golden, molten goodness given to us freely by honeybees. Just as today’s psalm celebrates the wonder of creation while also signaling that something has gone awry, and needs healing, Mark wants those who care about bees and beekeepers to be more aware that when it comes to honey, and to bees, all is not as it should be. According to Mark there is a dark underbelly to the honey that is sold on our supermarket shelves with enough intrigue to fit comfortably in an international crime thriller. There is big money involved in an epidemic of mislabeling, toxic residues, tariff avoidance, and honey adulteration. In fact in 2010 the American Food & Drug Administration announced indictments against 11 German and Chinese executives, six companies, and their US representatives, charging them with avoiding $80 million in honey tariffs and 3
selling honey tainted with banned antibiotics. According to the Globe & Mail it was the largest food fraud in American history. The scam was elaborate. To avoid the US tariff on honey from China, it was labeled as originating in countries that pay little or no tariff and the shipping paperwork was altered. In addition drums containing the illicit honey were mislabeled as molasses or sugar syrup to avoid raising concerns about how much honey was entering the US. Between 2002 and 2006 over 600 shipments illegally entered the US. Much of this honey was contaminated by chloramphenicol a broad-spectrum antibiotic, presumably used by Chinese beekeepers but not approved for use by beekeepers in the US. Samples were tested in Germany and if found to contain the rogue antibiotic they were shipped through other countries to reduce suspicion. Shipments that were discovered and rejected were relabeled and rerouted through other countries and managed to evade detection when landing again in the US. These are not isolated incidents. Indian honey, banned in 27 countries of the European Union because of lead and antibiotic contamination, was imported and sold in the US. Other shipments not addressed by the 2010 indictments were found to be contaminated with chlordimeform, a miticide banned in most countries because it causes urinary bladder cancer. The 2010 indictments resulted in five guilty pleas, and sentences of 18 – 30 months. Indictments against the remaining individuals in Germany and China have yet to go to court and two of the largest honey processing companies in the US, long suspected by beekeepers of importing and adulterating illegal honey, have agreed to pay 3 million in fines, and are currently embroiled in a class action lawsuit brought on behalf of all commercial beekeeping operations in the US. The trade in illegal and contaminated honey is not just the work of deceptive offshore trading partners. Some of the largest and most long-established honey packers in the US knowingly buying mislabeled, transshipped or possibly altered honey so that they can sell it cheaper than those companies who demand safety, quality, and rigorously inspected honey. In addition to the troubling issues of illegal and contaminated honey, honey adulteration is also rampant. In fact honey is third on the list of adulterated foods, 4
just behind olive oil and milk. Unscrupulous packers add high-fructose corn syrup, malt sweeteners, rice syrup, brown sugar, or barley malt to honey. Particularly common is the high-fructose corn syrup, which is produced by industrially converting the glucose in corn to fructose, thereby making it taste sweeter, and costing one fifth the price of honey. Adulterated honey can be detected but it requires some sophisticated tests that few laboratories are capable of conducting. And while it might be important to beekeepers and honey lovers it’s not enough of a big ticket item to get the regulators overly interested in conducting mass sampling of supermarket honeys. A 2011 survey showed that 75 percent of honey on store shelves had no pollen in it. All honey has at least a few grains of pollen that remain in it after normal straining and that pollen is the only definitive way to determine country and even region of origin. A complete lack of pollen indicates one of two things: the jar has no honey in it, or the honey has been ultra-filtered by heating and forcing the honey through tiny filters to remove all of the pollen. It’s no secret to anyone in the honey business that the only reason to ultrafilter honey is to hide where it initially came from. Honey has been valued by millions for centuries for its flavor and nutritional value and this is precisely what is completely removed by the ultra-filtration process. In the language of the psalmist, honey with no pollen, is honey that has been altered such that its particular flavour (or voice) is not tasted (or heard). The honey offering of the bees is not received or experienced as the amazing gift that it is. And that is just the ‘dark side’ of honey. There’s a whole lot more that could be said about the dark side of bee keeping. Combined environmental stressors are leading to the collapse of bee colonies around the planet. Annual global colony loss of 30-40% is now routine and losses can go as high as 100% for some beekeepers. You may have heard that Vancouver Island lost 90% of its bee colonies the winter of 2009-2010. The industrialization of beekeeping in the last 30-40 years with its dependence on artificial feed, pesticides, and antibiotics; and this alongside contemporary farming practices such as treating single crop fields with toxic insecticides, weed killers that eliminate alternative forage for the bees, and profusely applied fungicides, not to mention an increasing array of honey bee pests and diseases that have been introduced or have become more serious 5
due to pesticide and antibiotic resistance … all these combine to create a perfect storm of conditions for an epic colony collapse. A 2010 study of beeswax comb led to the discovery of residues of 121 different pesticides in the comb, many of which have a toxic effect on the bees, some of which were not even registered for use anymore. It is not any one pesticide that is causing the decline it is the suite of chemistry and the chemical load that is causing the problem. The chemical soup is definitely having a negative impact on bee behavior and survival. There is a very real way in which the wonder of buzzing bees is not being heard. At Bible Study this week it was our reflections on verse 13 of Psalm 19 that seemed to open up our understanding of the psalm. It’s a verse I’ve never really paid much attention to before: Keep back your servant also from the insolent; do not let them have dominion over me. Then I shall be blameless and innocent of great transgression. We shared stories of what it is like when we get tangled up in conflict with others whom we perceive as insolent or proud. In our desire to “unseat them” we can find ourselves caught up in feeling and thinking and acting in ways that are not us at our best. We can perhaps imagine the not yet crowned King David, shepherd boy from Bethlehem whose spirituality and sense of God’s presence was shaped by his location on the Judean hillsides, the expansive views of the valley, and open and seemingly endless skies, by the wonder of the sun in its orbit in contrast to his own smallness as a shepherd boy tending sheep on the hillsides, now finding himself in conflict with insolent or proud King Saul who did not want to give David the throne. The prophet’s anointing and the people’s praise would not have helped David’s sense of humility. We can imagine it was a challenge for David to stay grounded in his shepherd boy sense of self and relationship with God. And yet, it seems that he remembers and knows the joy of being grounded in God’s laws and commandments and ordinances. This psalm is definitely a prayer of longing that he not get caught up in the power plays, that he not get stuck in a sense of entitlement, or on the pedestal of popularity, prestige or power but that he stay grounded in spiritual humility. We might be able to relate when we think of times in our life when we have known the goodness and joy of a life grounded in gospel principles and values. 6
Mark ends his chapter about ‘dirty honey’ describing what he experienced as a cleansing antidote. He spent some time at an Apicultural Society Honey Show where beekeepers bring their honey to be adjudicated. From the judge’s perspective honey from the hive is in its most perfect state. Judging is based on subtle deviations from that perfection. As one judge put it, “Everything we’re looking for is an adverse result of processing”. Mark describes the experience of being surrounded by a spirit of humility that grows out of care and a desire for right relationship with bees, out of a deep appreciation of honey, out of a willingness to be guided by the principles and values that prevail among beekeepers who wish to be known by their peers and their customers for the unmarred quality of their honey, as a breath of fresh air. It’s a whole different mindset than that of company executives scheming to produce as much honey and get it onto as many supermarket shelves as possible and at any cost. No doubt is easy to lose yourself if you go into battle with these executives or their companies as well. No wonder it is a breath of fresh air to spend time with a community of practice focused on the awe and wonder of honey and on how best to honour and share this gift of the bees with others. Holy One, don’t let me get caught up with the insolent … keep me grounded in humility – for then I know who I am and I know what matters and I can hear the voice of the stars and the sun and the voice of God reminding me of my rightful place in the web of creation. Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to YOU, O God, my rock and my redeemer. This is more to be desired than gold and sweeter than honey. Amen.
7
