The Beekeeper's Dream

Hummmmmm…

Kaylin Kaupish

Michael Joshin Thiele found himself on a forest path. Before him was a buzzing swarm of honeybees. They moved toward him as if part of one being. He watched them, entranced. The swarm came closer and a warm sensation permeated Michael’s soul, as if the swarm were embracing him. He felt a love for the bees—and for life itself. It was like a light, filling him with a sense of possibility and amazement. The buzzing intensified until…

Michael opened his eyes. He was lying in his bed, the morning light filtering through the windows. Was that a dream? he wondered. He could still sense the warmth from the swarm. He could still hear the humming and see the bees moving rhythmically in one gentle mass. He’d never witnessed anything like it. The feeling the bees gave him, though—that intense reverence for life—was familiar.

It was the same feeling Michael had gotten four years earlier, after losing his 31-year-old wife, Karin, to colon cancer. Michael had expected to spend the rest of his life with his beloved Karin, but their time together was cut tragically short. When they discovered her cancer, the couple was living in their native Germany. Eventually they couldn’t manage on their own. Michael quit his job in Berlin, and they moved to her parents’ house in the countryside. Michael was with her every moment for those last few months. He was by her side when she passed.

Karin’s death left Michael completely untethered. Things he used to consider important no longer seemed to matter. Things that used to take priority—a stable job, promotions, a 20-year life plan— now seemed meaningless to him.

If life can be gone so quickly, what is the point of chasing material security? he wondered. He felt spiritually restless.