Allow me to tell you about some of the sweetest antidotes. Just the other day, a dear friend called to ask if I knew what home care to do for her granddaughter’s bee sting. Of course, all sorts of information can be found with a few keystrokes on the internet. This site gives initial actions to take as well as potential emergency situations to know. https://www.verywellhealth.com/how-to-treat-a-bee-sting-1298219
What amazed me was one of the suggested antidotes. It was honey! I just found it so amazing that the very same creature who inflicted the injury could be capable of calming it! This is like providing a huge apology for inflicting the sting! Speaking of these seemingly contradictory pairings, here is one of my posts to Learn from Opposites.
Interestingly, honey acts as an anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and antibacterial. What a remarkable design of nature to have one creature which both strikes with a sting and provides a poultice.
Sweetest Antidotes – Not As Sweet
In essence, the bee also reminds me of the snake. When a person suffers a snake bite, the antidote involves something sourced from the snake. The treatment involves a small bit of the venom made into something called antivenom. This site describes the process: https://www.aaas.org/sites/default/files/sw-091613-bitingback.pdf. Although the snake’s antidote is not nearly so sweet as a bee’s, it is certainly life saving.
Nature Sweetest Antidote!
Nature in her infinite design is many times an apt model. Here is another post on the topic of optimistic views of nature: ROOM FOR MIRACLES? The antidote situation made me think about all the issues and troubles in the world. When the world is out of balance could we apply this wisdom of opposites? Just as nature illustrates, especially with the bee, perhaps there is a lesson for us. Think of war versus peace, hunger versus gluttony, homelessness versus multiple mansions. Then, there is inequality with human rights, health care and other resources, etc. Where should we look for the honey to solve the world’s problems?
The same could be true of personal problems. By far my biggest sting was losing our son. The sweetest of my antidotes became writing. If reading of my child loss experiences may sooth another person’s path, it then becomes a salve to my soul. When nature is a model, our sweetest antidote answers will originate from the source of the sting. Wouldn’t it be a “bee-utiful” world?
