Next, I journeyed, by way of a cruise ship, to the Far East in July of 1998. The Corvette and all of my weapons were part of my personal baggage. When we docked at a small port in Eastern China, I hopped in the Vette and went on a personal countryside tour of the vast region. As I drove down a dusty dirt road, I saw a sign that read “Beijing / 200 Kilometers.” Just up ahead I noticed another sign that read “Rest Stop / Next Exit.”

I said to myself, “It has been a long haul after being stuck on that slow boat to China. I’m tired of the ocean, and I’m tired of traveling. I’m in the mood for love.”

I pulled over at the rest stop. The surrounding area was very scenic; there were elm and oak trees as far as one could see. The country setting made me curious about my horse. I wondered how Spirit was getting along. I decided to transport the palomino stallion to my location so that he could visit with me.

After I energized Spirit, I mounted up and took a ride through the woods, near the rest stop. As we galloped along, a beehive, nestled in a deep fissure on an old half-dead elm tree, caught my interest.

I jerked back on Spirit’s reins, which brought the light-gold-and-tan-colored stallion to an abrupt stop. I dismounted. Immediately, Spirit began grazing on some tall crabgrass. My horse was very content. I reached into my coal-black backpack and pulled out a jar of vinegar, a small bowl, and a ball of cotton. I soaked the cotton with vinegar and tied it to the end of my eight-foot-long lance. Then I filled the bowl and sat it on the ground, right beside me. I poured the rest of the vinegar all over myself. It made me smell to high heaven. Spirit caught a good whiff of the foul odor. He quickly backed off in disgust.

I held out my lance near the base of the hive. Honeybees swarmed all around the hive and landed in droves on nearby flowers. Thousands of bees pestered the poor horse, dive-bombing him in waves. However, none of the fussy bees landed on the point of the lance or came within several feet of me. I was very disappointed with the finicky bees.

“Master, these darn bees are driving me crazy,” Spirit said, speaking with a badly swollen tongue. “Can’t you do something to draw them your way?”

“Spirit, I just love honeybees,” I replied, “and I want them to love me, too. I just don’t understand why these bees won’t have anything to do with me.”

Spirit said, “I don’t know, either, master. But I wish that you would discover the secret, sooner, rather than later!”

I strolled a few feet through the dense, foot-high crabgrass, just in front of where Spirit had been feeding, and said, “I fear that my indifference for others, in general, is keeping the bees away. Lord, what potion can I use to attract more loving attention?”

The Lord instantly appeared. She was wearing a bee net over Her head. She said, “Wantsalittle, I’m not a stupid God. I’m wearing this net so that I won’t get stung!”

“I can’t believe that You would be afraid of these little bees.”

The Lord just laughed and said, “The great Chinese philosopher, Lao Tzu, the widely recognized father of Taoism, said, ‘Through love, one will be courageous . . . For love is victorious in attack and invulnerable in defense. Heaven arms with love those it would not see destroyed.’ Love is absent from all aspects of your dark side. Just as you cannot focus on more than one thought at a time, you cannot express fear and love at the same time. The same holds true with doubt, anger, hatred, and all other negative thoughts and emotions.”

God stopped speaking just long enough to swat at a couple of honeybees, which were annoying Her. Then She continued, “As you begin to come to terms with your angels in black—your dark-side personal demons—by eliminating harmful thoughts and emotions, more and more love will find its way into your heart. Also, to the degree that you first love yourself, you will have the capacity to love your fellow man. Wantsalittle, try to allow the love in your heart to reflect from you to others!”

“Lord, I will do the best that I can with respect to ‘loving others’! Now, can You give me some more advice on how I can ‘be loved’?”

“Being loved is a basic human need. If you want to discover the path to love and happiness, simply follow the words of Jesus who said, ‘A new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another . . .’ (John 13:34). If you abide by that principle, you will fulfill your deepest desires to love and be loved.”

Just before God took off Her bee net and disappeared, She concluded, “As you think with feelings of love, you will be able to love and be loved. Hold loving thoughts in your heart, both for yourself and for others!”

I tried another approach in getting the bees to love me. I drew a big red heart on the ground and painted “Will you ‘bee’ my valentine?” in the middle of it. Then I reached into my backpack and retrieved a jar that had a white-and-blue label marked “Honey.”

I was a wanting-to-be-loved knight, so I poured honey all over myself. As I dripped in honey from head to toe, I put God’s net over my helmet to protect my eyes.

Within seconds the honeybees swarmed all over me and all around me. I extended my arms straight out and clasped my steel gloves together. Then I hugged what looked like a brown-and-yellow cloud of the adorable little insects. I loved every minute of my time with the charming, delightful honeybees. I said to myself, “How great it feels in my heart to love and to ‘bee’ so loved!”

(The moral of this episode: Hold loving thoughts in your heart, both for yourself and for others!)

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