Chaos is multiplying faster than a hummingbird’s wings.
We see…
- wars grinding on around the world.
- extreme heat, wildfires, and catastrophic floods.
- warnings that artificial intelligence could outrun our ability to control it.
Plenty of news to be down.
But one of God’s tiny creatures shows us how to choose joy.
Finding joy in the moment
Hummingbirds and vultures live in deserts.
They encounter chaos differently.
Vultures live off the dead, the past.
But hummingbirds live off blossoms, the present.
Each bird finds what it’s looking for.
So do we.
Life is generally directed by what we look at.
The direction we look.
Even now, as some of the people building artificial intelligence warn about where it may be headed, there is plenty to worry about.
But worry is not nectar.
That’s why Jesus told us to remember birds.
“Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?”
— Mt 6: 26-27
Maybe they worry less because they live in the moment.
Arthur Gordon once asked actor Charles Coburn the key to life.
“The moment,” he said, “to act—or not to act. The moment to speak—or to keep silent. On the stage, as every actor knows, timing is the all-important factor. I believe it’s the key in life too. “ Arthur Gordon interview with Charles Coburn/ A Touch of Wonder
Don’t worry. Stay in the moment. How?
Awareness
Hummingbirds are smart. Alert.
Their brain is 4.2% of body weight, and ours is 2%.
Studies show they remember every flower.
They remember where the nectar is.
Movement
How do they find nectar in deserts?
Movement.
They can dive 60 mph and fly at 30 mph…
- forward
- backward
- upside-down
Problems are solved when you see them from different angles.
Skill
Joy won’t come your way if you sit around…
- stuck on a problem
- stuck in the past
We get stuck because we’re afraid.
Too afraid to work out problems.
Reminds me of a priest and a layman who went to a boxing match.
One of the boxers made the sign of the cross before the bell. The layman asked the priest, “Will that prayer help him in this fight?” The priest said, “Certainly, if he knows how to box.”
The hummingbird knows how to find nectar no matter the heat.
We should too.
This morning I drank my coffee by the pool with a hummingbird.
He was working the trumpet vine in our backyard, darting from flower to flower.
The world hadn’t suddenly become less complicated.
AI was still accelerating. Wars were still raging. Problems were still waiting.
The hummingbird didn’t ignore any of it.
He just knew where the nectar was.
Maybe that’s our job too.
Choose joy every day with faith, awareness, movement, and skill.
Find the nectar.
Or stay stuck in a hole.
Stories like this are part of the reflections I write about living fully, finding joy, and making life count, which you can explore on my About Stephen Blaising page.
Love this viewpoint Steve. Hummingbirds have always mesmerized me. The video had wonderful facts that I had never heard. I choose hope through God’s smallest of creations.
With you all the way Jim!