The Hummingbird

Excerpt from “Someone Else’s Diary, Vol. II”
By: Ree

I don’t know what others’ encounters have been with hummingbirds. My own have been to catch only fleeting glimpses of them as they dart to the feeder and suck up the sugar water my father sets out for them. Always they are flitting, their wings moving so rapidly they seem to hum, their feathers glinting green with a bit of white and red. Then they are gone. They are timid little things, and will shoot away if anyone is too close their feeder.

While in La Quinta, I was strolling through the paths lined with prickly pear, cactus, and strange blooming trees that I do not know the name of. I passed under such a tree with its bright orange-yellow flowers and stopped to look at the design of the petals, when I noticed right above my head, a humming bird. Smaller than Michigan humming birds, this one was black, tiny, and not more than an inch long with a white throat. The bird was so tiny that the entire body might have disappeared in the blossom, but for the mad whipping of the wings.

I stood under that bird, cursing myself for not having my camera on hand. I was not more than 3 feet from the creature, much closer than I have ever been to a hummingbird. The feathers gleamed with the same, weird iridescent shine of Michigan birds, and this fellow was so intent on the flower’s nectar, that he did not seem to notice how close to him I stood.

I smiled up at the busy bird and watched him for a long time. I studied him until he had his fill and he flew away. Later, as I was returning from a class, I was on the same path and looked up in the tree. The humming bird was not there, so I continued my walk for about three steps. I don’t know how, but I spotted the little chap on a branch, not four feet up and once again very close to me. He just sat there, watching me. I stared back at him in awe. I had never seen a hummingbird still before. We gazed at each other for several moments; both of our heads were cocked to the side as we regarded each other with great interest. He never moved.

I was tempted to keep this little encounter to myself; however, God had a parable for me.

“Rebecca, I watch you the same way you watched the hummingbird work. Notice how he was oblivious to your presence, intent only on the task at hand.”

I objected. “Lord, I look up at You all the time!”

“You spin the plates, Rebecca. Let them fall.”

I knew what He meant. My analogy of my life is that I raced from spinning plate to spinning plate, flitting here and there, intent on working at relationships, working on myself, exercising, dieting, school, Jacob, work problems, seminars, vacations, family problems, buying a house problems, Jacob needs an instrument, Kristyn needs help with tuition…plate after plate is placed on a pole and I run to each as in turn they begin to wobble as they lose momentum and attend to them as quickly as other plates show signs of teetering.

“Let them fall, Rebecca.”

“Lord, I can’t. They will break!”

“Am I not the mender of what is broken? Regard me, as the hummingbird regarded you! Sit still before Me and gaze at Me. Study Me. Learn who I Am. Allow Me to admire your beauty as you watch Me with interest and wonder. You are My creation. Rest and look at Me.”

What could I say? He was right. The plates were going to fall anyway, some would shatter, and some may chip. But certainly I would never be able to spin them all without a mishap, without wearing myself out. I could watch them fall through my failure, or let them fall through my choosing.

“Let the plates fall, Rebecca.”

Luke 10:40 – 42 But Martha was encumbered with much serving, and came to Him and said, "Lord, dost Thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? Bid her therefore that she help me." And Jesus answered and said unto her, "Martha, Martha, thou art anxious and troubled about many things. But one thing is needful, and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her." NKJV