My latest book to read was "The Secret Life of Bees." Since I don't want to give the story away, I will not cover a lot of details. This book will speak to your heart though. The story is set in South Carolina in 1964 and while it deals with racial tensions, the story is really one of love, self-forgiveness, the need for help from someone higher than ourselves, of acceptance and the need of being accepted.
The main characters in the story - outside of the bees - are 3 sisters - August, May and June, a young girl, Lily and her surrogate mother of sorts - Rosaleen. Lily is white and all the women around her are black. But as I said, this story goes beyond that. Lily's mother was killed in a horrible accident - by Lily. After a series of events, Lily and Rosaleen end up in Tiburon, South Carolina. A destination chosen by Lily because of a possession of her mom's that had the name of that town on it. August, May and June take Lily and Rosaleen into their home. A wonderful tale of these women emerges - each with their own personalities, strengths and weaknesses.
My favorite lines in the book is one day when Lily and August are discussing the pink color of the house. Lily has just found out that pink was not August's favorite color - blue is. May, the sister who "takes in things differently than we do" had picked out the color. She said it made her feel like dancing. August thought it was a tacky color, but went with it since it lifted May's heart. August knew that the color of a house didn't matter in the overall scheme of life, but that lifting a person's heart does. That doesn't mean it was easy for August to paint the house Carribean Pink instead of the nice tan color she had in mind. Then August makes the astute observation that "The whole problem with people is they know what matters, but they don't choose it....The hardest thing on earth is choosing what matters." How true is that?! Reminds me of the scripture in James 4:17 - "Anyone,then,who knows the good he ought to do, and doesn't do it, sins." (NIV) Why is it that we know all that and we really believe it, but at times it is so hard to let go of our selfishness and choose what really matters? May God give me the wisdom and strength I need to choose what really matters.
The main characters in the story - outside of the bees - are 3 sisters - August, May and June, a young girl, Lily and her surrogate mother of sorts - Rosaleen. Lily is white and all the women around her are black. But as I said, this story goes beyond that. Lily's mother was killed in a horrible accident - by Lily. After a series of events, Lily and Rosaleen end up in Tiburon, South Carolina. A destination chosen by Lily because of a possession of her mom's that had the name of that town on it. August, May and June take Lily and Rosaleen into their home. A wonderful tale of these women emerges - each with their own personalities, strengths and weaknesses.
My favorite lines in the book is one day when Lily and August are discussing the pink color of the house. Lily has just found out that pink was not August's favorite color - blue is. May, the sister who "takes in things differently than we do" had picked out the color. She said it made her feel like dancing. August thought it was a tacky color, but went with it since it lifted May's heart. August knew that the color of a house didn't matter in the overall scheme of life, but that lifting a person's heart does. That doesn't mean it was easy for August to paint the house Carribean Pink instead of the nice tan color she had in mind. Then August makes the astute observation that "The whole problem with people is they know what matters, but they don't choose it....The hardest thing on earth is choosing what matters." How true is that?! Reminds me of the scripture in James 4:17 - "Anyone,then,who knows the good he ought to do, and doesn't do it, sins." (NIV) Why is it that we know all that and we really believe it, but at times it is so hard to let go of our selfishness and choose what really matters? May God give me the wisdom and strength I need to choose what really matters.
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