W is for WASPS

If a wasp was part human, I doubt if it would ever smile. I can imagine it flying about, with this continuous frown on its forehead, snarling and spitting at passers-by, with a large chip on its wing and saying things like, 'Out of my way!' or 'Do you want a fight?' or 'Go find your own flower to smell!' Teenage wasps would be total rebels in the home and society, baby wasps would cry all night and old wasps would be twisted and full of regret that life hadn't dealt them a better deal. I can understand why a wasp would possibly display such traits. After all, their relatives, the humble bumble bees are treated with much more respect by the human population and quite rightly as they play an important part in our lives, acting as pollinators for a whole range of plants and producing delightful honey for the sweet toothed among us. Where would our Bramley apples be without them? Bees in our country do not have a history of stinging random individuals unless severely provoked with such attacks more likely to happen around those who work with them. You can almost hear a bee saying sorry. And of course they have the decency to die shortly afterwards almost out of empathy for their victim.Wasps of course appear to have no such conscience and, despite what the experts say, don't always have to be provoked to turn nasty. At this particular time of year, they are at their most dangerous and wear the biggest frowns because the males are all about to die off, having ensured the next population is in place and the females are looking for a home for the winter and might just have settled in that apple on the tree that you are about to pick!

I can't remember exactly at what time of year my sister and I found the nest but that's about the only part I have forgotten. It looked like a brown paper bag or an old faded football, sitting neatly in a hedge behind the old pig house. We were curious, like most primary school kids and must have seen the owners come and go. For whatever reason it seemed like a good place to poke a stick and empty a bucket of water, but the residents' committee inside were less than impressed and soon a full scale riot broke out - in our direction! There were hundreds of them in their black and gold uniforms and in the commotion we didn't even get a chance to reload for they were on us quicker than you could say, 'I've been stung'. And we were. I've no idea how many times they injected us but the bumps appearing on exposed lips, cheeks, arms, ears and many other covered parts indicated that we had been well beaten. Mum was alerted to the wailing and what a sight we must have been for those wasps that hadn't stung us were crawling about though our hair and stuck in the woolen fabric of our jumpers. In truth, with the amount of venom we had absorbed, I don't know how we survived, but probably mum's quick thinking, the doctor's hurried arrival and the subsequent injections saved us. The whole event has probably coloured my thinking but I had learnt a harsh lesson - you don't mess with wasps. So if I'm ever in your company and the gold and black brigade arrive, you'll excuse me if I turn violent for just a few seconds!

I used to find the Old Testament stories hard to understand because many times God demands of his chosen leaders that they completely destroy the people whose land they are about to take. and how he punishes them if they don't obey. I recall how Elijah killed all the prophets of Baal and how whole towns and villages were destroyed. When I got too involved in the wasp nest, sooner or later I was going to get stung and reap the consequences. And when we allow other gods, traditions or cultures to influence our spiritual lives, it's not long before some damage is done to us. That's why God instructed His people to get rid of everything that might destroy them and His message hasn't changed. Jesus tells us to 'Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak.' When you stay away from temptation you don't get stung!