The Wisdom of Humming Birds

Each spring, the humming bird feeder is washed. A mixture of sugar and water added to the bottle-like container. In an expectant procession, the feeder is taken to the back yard and hung from a pole surrounded by flowering shrubs. Then the wait begins. This year, the feeder hung for almost two months before our favorite back-yard visitors appeared: the humming birds.

Now that we are in the heat of summer, in morning and evening we have the chance to watch our winged friends. After darting quickly through the air, moving from tree to tree and then coming landing for sweet water, the humming birds bring a sense of excitement to our suburban lives.

A humming bird feeding in my backyard

As I’ve watched these amazing birds over the last weeks, I’ve thought about how much they are like contemporary urban dwellers. They dart about, moving at a frantic pace from place to place. They are so much like many of us who balance multiple commitments and busy schedules each and every day.

Unlike us, they have the good sense to pause, to focus on the moment, and to refresh themselves. As the summer months go on, the humming birds take more and more time at the feeder. Perhaps it becomes more familiar; perhaps they sense that the feeding spot is safe for them. Whatever the reasons, they linger for long periods drinking the sweet water for their refreshment.

Learning to sit and rest in meditation seems so very similar to the flight and feeding of the humming birds. We rarely take time to stop, to reflect, to pause and just be. When we begin to practice meditation or mindfulness, stopping for 3 or 4 minutes seems very positive. But if we maintain a regular practice of quiet, we find that we become like the humming birds who stay long and longer and are comfortable in taking time for quiet refreshment.

Following the example of the humming birds, I strive to take time for meditative rest and refreshment each morning and evening. This is time to drink deeply from the sweet water of a deep source mysteriously hidden within each of us. Rather than seeking refreshment, it’s easy to lose ourselves in the business of the day, darting about from one task to another. From this vantage point, the humming birds become wise spiritual directors: in their fantastic pace, the stop and drink deeply so that they can be refreshed.

May we learn from the wisdom of the humming birds.