Vinny and I have personally become inspired by the Bumblebee symbol on many levels. Perhaps you have noticed that we have taken to wearing a small 1½" golden Bumblebee pin, shown to the right.

The most visible part of most of every person's identities are who we are as individuals and then secondarily, who we are as members of our family, our circle of friends, our congregations and our larger community.

Of course our individual identity is a vitally important role, but there is another equally vital role: the role of the Bumblebee or Faithful Community Traveler.

The Bumblebee travels between various groups and communities and provides the cross-pollination. The interconnected tissue of life-force that actually creates the interdependent web of all existence, of which we are a part.

In the faith communities and the social justice communities, the “bumblebees” are those among us who travel between the campaigns, groups and congregations -- those of faith and those of no faith -- sharing ideas and passion. We pollinate with love and that is what makes our global metaphorical garden thrive. For Napoleon, the bee was a symbol of industry and hard work needed to build a great nation. Today, that symbol is even more urgently needed to heal and rebuild the planet.

Our twenty first century cultural view of humans in the Western World focuses on the value of the individual and of personal freedom. The Bumblebee’s world is one of community and collaboration. It’s no coincidence that there is a catastrophic decline in the world bee population -- today there are something like one-third the number of bees that there were a only a decade ago.

We all need to support our bees of all sorts – faithful bumblebees included!

You can purchase your own Bumblebee Pin through Amazon.com by clicking here and we'll even get a few pennies on the transaction.