Author: eejoseph

Honey Drop 11: The Hive Remembers

eejoseph,

Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, (Hebrews 12:1)

For those who run because others ran

From the petal to the hive

🔹Witnesses all around

Leader: 
We are not alone. 
We are surrounded. 
Not by ghosts— 
But by witnesses.


People: 
They ran before us. 
They prayed for us. 
They endured for us. 
And now—they watch.


Leader: 
Their memory is not weight. 
It is wind, not burden. 
It is blessing.


All: 
The hive remembers. 
We run with them. 
We run because of them.


🔹 Throw Off / Run With Perseverance

Leader: 
We throw off what clings.  We cast down what slows. 
We run—  not to win,  but to finish.

People: 
We run with perseverance, with memory, with fire, with love.

Leader: 
This is not a sprint.  It is a covenant.  Not a race for glory— 
But a journey of grace.

All: 
The hive remembers.  Still we run. We run together.

🍯 Benediction: The Cloud and the Comb


Leader: 
We are not alone. 
The cloud surrounds. 
It is not memory— 
It is presence.

People: 
They are not past. 
They are with us. 
They are not gone. 
They are glory.

Leader: 
We run not to escape, but to arrive. 
We run toward the comb — where sweetness is made 
From endurance.

All: 
Let the cloud carry us.  Let the race refine us. 
Let the hive receive us.  And let the honey flow.

honey-sipping bee

More honey tomorrow!

Honey Drop 10: Pollen and Purity

eejoseph,


For those who know that holiness is not sterile

“Therefore, behold, I will allure her, Bring her into the wilderness And speak kindly to her. “Then I will give her her vineyards from there, And the valley of Achor as a door of hope. And she will sing there as in the days of her youth, As in the day when she came up from the land of Egypt. “It will come about in that day,” declares the Lord, “That you will call Me Ishi And will no longer call Me Baali. (Hosea 2:14-16)


Leader: 
I Myself will allure her. 
Not a messenger. 
Not a shadow. 
But I.

People: 
You do not delegate desire. 
You do not outsource love. 
You come Yourself. 
To woo.

Leader: 
You are alluring— 
Not commanding. 
You draw us out 
With tenderness.

All: 
Allure us, O God. 
Lead us out. 
Make us holy 
In the wild.

Lead / Speak / Call


Leader: 
You lead— 
Not chase. 
You speak— 
Not scold. 
You call— 
Not claim.

People: 
You lead us gently. 
You speak to our ache. 
You call us “My wife.”

Leader: 
This is not control. 
This is communion. 
Not distance— 
But delight.

All: 
Lead us, Lord. 
Speak to us. 
Call us Yours. 
Make us pure 
By Your love.

Love: never outsourced

Honey Drop 9: The Sting and the Song

eejoseph,

Arouse Yourself, why do You sleep, O Lord? Awake, do not reject us forever. Why do You hide Your face And forget our affliction and our oppression? For our soul has sunk down into the dust; Our body cleaves to the earth. Rise up, be our help, And redeem us for the sake of Your lovingkindness. (Psalms 44:23-26)

For those who trust enough to protest

Instead of the buzz of busy wings we hear this litany.

Leader: 
Only the faithful say, 
“Why are You sleeping?” 
Only the beloved cry, 
“Rouse Yourself.”

People: 
We remember Your voice. 
We remember Your fire. 
But now— 
You are still.

Leader: 
We do not accuse a stranger. 
We plead with our God. 
We do not shout into the void. 
We whisper into Your silence.

All: 
Awake, O Lord. 
Rouse Yourself. 
We are Yours. 
We are waiting.

Do Not Reject Us / Do Not Hide Your Face

Leader: 
Only the chosen ask, 
“Why do You reject?” 
Only the seen can feel 
Your hidden face.

People: 
We are not cast off. 
But we feel cast down. 
We are not forgotten. 
But we feel unseen.

unseen.

Leader: 
This ache is covenantal. 
This protest is praise. 
We name the silence 
Because we know Your voice.

All: 
Do not reject us. 
Do not hide. 
We trust You still. 
We seek Your face.

Rise Up / Redeem Us

Leader: 
Only the remembered say, 
“Rise up.” 
Only the redeemed cry, 
“Redeem us.”

People: 
We do not sing 
Because pain is gone. 
We sing 
Because promise remains.

Leader: 
This is not doubt. 
This is devotion. 
This is not despair. 
This is the song.

All: 
Rise up, O God. 
Redeem us. 
The sting is real. 
But so is the song.

Litany to the God who appreciates a protest

Honey Drop 8 – “The Wealth of Nothing”

eejoseph,


đź“… November 08 


📖 2 Corinthians 6:10 — “As sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing everything.”
Scenario


Scenario


Paul lived with two faces—not in deceit, but in devotion. Like the Roman god Janus, he stood at the threshold of sorrow and joy, lack and abundance. But unlike myth, Paul’s paradox was patterned after Christ Himself—who thirsted while giving drink, who died to give life. The apostle didn’t hide the tension. He bore it. And in that bearing, he revealed a kingdom that flips every earthly measure.


A tense journey


This verse doesn’t resolve the paradox—it honors it. Sorrow and joy aren’t opposites here—they’re companions. Poverty isn’t shame—it’s generosity. Emptiness isn’t failure—it’s freedom. Paul’s life was a contradiction, and that contradiction was holy. The tension doesn’t mean something’s wrong. It means something’s real. And Christ lived it first.

Sweetness Drop


I held nothing, 
but You held me. 
I gave what I didn’t own,  and made others rich. 
My tears didn’t cancel my praise— 
they baptized it. 
And in the ache of lack, 
I found the wealth of nothing.

Honey Drop 7 – “Held in the Flame”

eejoseph,


📅 November 07 

📖 Malachi 3:3a — “He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver…”

Bee Act 1

Refining isn’t dramatic—it’s deliberate. The silversmith doesn’t pace. He sits. He stays close. The flame does its work slowly, burning away what doesn’t belong. And the silver? It doesn’t resist. It yields. It glows. It suffers transformation in silence. But the refiner suffers too—not in destruction, but in devotion. He feels the heat that changes the silver. He stays until the shine reflects his own face.

Tension / Comfort


We often ask God to change us—but we rarely ask Him to stay with us in the fire. Malachi says He does both. He purifies, yes—but He also remains. He doesn’t abandon the process. He’s present in the pain. And He knows when to stop—not when the silver screams, but when He sees Himself in it. The fire refines the silver, but it also reveals the heart of the Refiner. The heat we feel is not a sign of distance—it’s proof of proximity.

Sweetness Drop


You didn’t rush the burn. 
You sat. 
You stayed. 
You felt the heat that changed me. 
I begged for rescue, 
but You waited for shine. 
And when You saw Yourself in me, 
You pulled me from the flame.

Call me lingophile

eejoseph

Once I was introduced to foreign languages I lost all other interests. French. Spanish and Latin completely took over. I had no idea that how grasping the function of languages would set my world as a believer on fire.

I loved languages because they provided a practical platform from which I could write poetry and songs about what mattered to me and my generation.  Today my hilarity is often due to running into the weird and whacky things people say they have found in the Bible.

Sometimes my hilarity is just a smile and others it is a belly laugh, and I find the most thrilling slice of hilarity when Jews and Muslims say that the language of their respective sacred books are unfathomable; are beyond the reach of outsiders.

Do you want some really good fun? Try finding out how many words Canada’s First Nations have for snow.

Honey Drop 6 – “Not Known, Still Led”

eejoseph



📅 November 06 
đź“–  “Your path led through the sea, your way through the mighty waters, though your footprints were not known.” Psalm 77:19


The background



The sea swallowed everything—noise, clarity, direction. And yet, God’s path went straight through it. Not beside it. Not above it. Through. The psalmist doesn’t say the footprints were erased. He says they were not known. Not recognized. Not found. The path was real, but invisible. The guidance was present, but untraceable.


Tension / Comfort


We want to follow what we can see. But Psalm 77 invites us to follow what we cannot know. The verb yada—to know—is negated here. It’s not just that the footprints were missing. It’s that they were unknowable. God led them through chaos, and left no trail. That’s not abandonment. That’s mystery and mystery is often the shape of mercy.



Dropping the honey


You led me through what I couldn’t name. 
The waters roared, but You remained. 
No footprints marked the way I came— 
just the ache of trust, and holy flame. 
I did not know, but I was known. 
And in the deep, You made it home.

Honey Drop 5 – “See Through the Sea”

eejoseph,


đź“… November 05 

Scene


📖 Exodus 14:13–14 — “Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.”


There are moments when movement feels like survival—when the only thing louder than fear is the urge to fix, flee, or fight. The Israelites stood at the edge of the sea, hemmed in by water and war. Behind them, the memory of bondage galloped forward in chariots. Before them, the impossible shimmered in waves. And in that impossible place, Moses didn’t tell them to run or shout. He told them to stand still. He told them to be silent.


Unusual teamwork


Stillness and silence weren’t just spiritual disciplines—they were survival. Panic could’ve fractured the moment. If they had scattered, they would’ve scattered into death. If they had spoken, they would’ve spoken fear. But Moses made it clear: “The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be silent.” 
Silence didn’t mean neglect—it meant sacred restraint. Stillness wasn’t passivity—it was prophetic posture. The miracle didn’t come because they moved—it came because they waited. And in that hush, something holy began.

Honey Drop


Sometimes we’re lords, sometimes we’re not; 
Sometimes watching God work may be all we’ve got. 
The sea won’t part for pride or panic— 
only in the stillness that drives one manic. 
We’re in that crowd, we walk on dry land, 
where a sea had been our last stand.