The Secret Life of Bzzzzz

Once classes ended, I decided it was time for some lighter reading. I picked up The Secret Life of Bees (written by Sue Monk Kidd), and three days later, I was quite pleased and pleasantly surprised with the novel.
    The novel is set in South Carolina during the Civil Rights period. Tensions between races is evident throughout. A fourteen year old white girl, Lucy, runs away from home with her black nurse and takes refuge with three black beekeeping sisters that live in a hot pink house. During her time living with the sisters, Lucy experiences love and loss, learns more about herself, finds confidence, and comes to terms with the tragic death of her mother.
    Honestly, the only reason I was interested in reading the book at first was to figure out what Sue Monk Kidd would say about “the Black Madonna”. I soon found that the book had much more to entice me. For example, I connected with the narrator, Lucy, because of her love for literature and desire to be a teacher and writer. In time, she develops a love for and devotion to the Virgin Mary.
    Kidd offers an interesting perspective on Marian devotion in her novel. Perhaps she removes Mary from the context of Catholic practice in order to demonstrate the idea of the universal mother, be she a Mother Earth or a Mother of the Savior. I appreciated that Kidd elevated Mary instead of minimizing her, and explained that devotion to Mary is secondary to faith in Christ.
    Finally, as with any good book, there are some lines that stick out as memorable or are particularly relevant to the reader. So, I will share a short excerpt from the novel. One of the beekeeper sisters, August, says:
“You’ve been halfway living your life for too long. May was saying that when it’s time to die, go ahead and die, and when it’s time to live, live. Don’t sort-of-maybe live, but live like you’re going all out, like you’re not afraid” (pg. 211).

How many times do we hesitate to act because of fear?
There are times to stop and think, and there are times to be spontaneous.
But at all times, we should be living life to the full.
Thoreau endeavors to “suck all the marrow” out of life, and Bl. John Paul II encourages us to “Be not afraid” and “Open wide the doors to Christ”.

So don’t sort-of-maybe live; live vibrantly and passionately, with a purpose.

TJTM,
V