Let me share two personal encounters with creative hummingbirds:
The first, a dive trip to Tobago where during an afternoon outing my dive buddy and I visited the Hummingbird House. We experienced a colourful 1920s Caribbean cottage replete with a circular veranda filled with hummingbird feeders and gorgeous Orchids. At the same time, we were bombarded by a myriad of tiny hummingbirds vying for the sweet nectar.
The second experience was on Vancouver Island walking the grounds of the Milner Gardens made famous by a visit from Princess Diana and Queen Elizabeth. During our stroll though the gardens we enjoyed metallic renderings of the flighting hummingbirds suspended from the branches of the towering Douglas Firs.
Diverse castings of creativity on a single subject. The first the handiwork of the Divine Muse in the creation of these tiny winged, always-in-a-hurry creatures. The second by creative art students melding the environs of forest, metal and human design. Both offerings synonymous with the dynamic power of the Easter miracle where surprise overtakes out-of-breath onlookers.
Such Easter creativity continues to shine forth with each day’s rising of the sun as the poet Hopkins notes:
The world is charged with the grandeur of God.
It will flame out, like shining from shook foil;
It gathers to a greatness, like the ooze of oil
Crushed…
There lives the dearest freshness deep down things…
Because the Holy Ghost over the bent
World broods with warm breast and with ah! bright wings.” (G.M. Hopkins)
Fascinating these birds moves with such speed leaving a buzzing in the ear. Just one creature with wings not visible when they fly...rarely seen one die as a child growing up. The mysteries untold but I'm ok not knowing it all, but enjoying the revealed. Funny I thought on the hummingbird often, how you could still hear their buzz even out of sight. This blog with today's quote from my devotion where the author contrast our faith in Christ like a child and "The Ethics of Belief," W.K. Clifford states that "it is wrong always, everywhere, and for anyone, to believe anything upon insufficient evidence." It is grace to have faith in God and observe creation at work giving thanks to the Creator of all.
Hummingbirds are such a surprise aren’t they? Yet, Isn’t it just like God to create magnificent flying creatures of varied size and shape only to then break the mold with a reengineered propulsion system that allows them to fly backwards, spin, dive, fly 75 mph and stop on a dime. Some of my favourite memories were sitting in the porch at Island Lake and watching them bobb and weave.
We are so blessed!