A Hummingbird Pause
A smaller & deeper lesson
“I always loved those little creatures [hummingbird], always feel blessed when they appear nearby. There’s a magical quality to them.”
- Leonard Cohen
The hummingbirds finally found my feeder this week. There is something so fun about hearing the gentle whir of a hummingbird. I usually hear them before I see them. They come and do a quick check of the feeder before touching down to enjoy a slurp. Sometimes they stay for a little while; other times, they take what appears to be just a quick sip. One evening this week, I was out and noticed one little lady take a long drink from the feeder, then she surprised me by flying over to the pine tree and just sitting, still on the branch.
I tend to think of hummingbirds as being in constant motion. They seem to appear in an instant and be gone just as fast. When they are drinking, their heads turn left to right with swiftness and purpose that rivals that of the most determined leader.
So to see a hummingbird pause, become completely still, so still that I even started to wonder if I was still seeing a hummingbird or new green growth at the end of the branch, was profound. At first, I was just curious about it. My understanding of hummingbirds (which is admittedly not much) was challenged by the still bird. Slowly, my curiosity turned to wonder and awe. This tiny bird, known (by me at least) as a bird in motion, was still? Wait, even if our nature seems to be speed and movement, we can pause?
We sat still, the hummingbird and I, for close to five minutes.
I’ve thought a lot about the lesson of the hummingbird. She challenged my assumptions about the nature of hummingbirds. I’ve always seen them in motion, so to see her pause was such a gift. It was an invitation to me to pause. Seeing her center down and blend into the tree reminded me to find moments to center down in my life.
In my Spiritual Director training, we were invited to take up a Centering Prayer Practice for several months. Centering Prayer involves choosing a sacred word. A simple word or phrase can be used to “return to center” when our mind drifts. Centering Prayer is an invitation to sit in the presence (God’s, our own, love, nature) without doing. The goal is only to show up daily.
Being in the presence of a hummingbird pause feels like a reminder and invitation that I, too, can pause, center, stop, listen, watch, and be.
A Hummingbird Pause Blessing
When all is a flutter, the hummingbird finds a branch and pauses. She becomes still, watchful, aware, and present. The hummingbird knows to wait, to watch, to center. Let’s learn from her example. May we pause our commotion, sit beside a tree, and let it all settle.
Try a Centering Prayer practice once or twice this week.
What invitations have you experienced in your backyard from the birds, squirrels, and bugs that share your space and place?
“The very least you can do in your life is figure out what you hope for. And the most you can do is live inside that hope. Not admire it from a distance but live right in it, under its roof.”
― Barbara Kingsolver
ideas.poems.quotes.songs that sparkled for me this week.
I try to pay attention to words or phrases that stand out to me in my reading and listening. A spiritual practice called Florliledgium collects short, interesting pieces of words that “sparkle” up and puts them together. This is kind of like that. Watching for things that sparkle. Gathering them and seeing how they work together and what message, mantra, or new idea might arise.)
A Practice:
Read slowly.
Notice if a word or phrase stands out to you.
How do the words make you feel?
Is there an invitation?
(I’m sharing in italics the lines that stand out to me in these passages. Maybe it’s the same, or maybe it’s different; there is much food for thought in each of these passages.
“In the Western tradition, there is a recognized hierarchy of beings, with, of course, the human being on top—the pinnacle of evolution, the darling of Creation—and the plants at the bottom. But in Native ways of knowing, human people are often referred to as “the younger brothers of creation.” We say that humans have the least experience with how to live and thus the most to learn—we must look to our teachers among the other species for guidance. Their wisdom is apparent in the way that they live. They teach us by example. They’ve been on the earth far longer than we have been, and have had time to figure things out.”
― Robin Wall Kimmerer, Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants
“Let yourself be drawn by the stronger pull of that which you truly love.”
― Rumi
“For millions of years, before you arrived here, the dream of your individuality was carefully prepared. You were sent to a shape of a destiny in which you would be able to express the special gift you bring to the world…There is a unique destiny for each person. Each of us has something to do here that can be done by no one else. If someone else could fulfill your destiny, then they would be in your place, and you would not be here. It is in the depths of your life that you will discover the invisible necessity that has brought you here. When you begin to decipher this, your gift and giftedness come alive. Your heart quickens and the urgency of living rekindles your creativity.
-John O’Donohue in Anam Cara: The Book of Celtic Wisdom
I too was surprised the first time I saw a Hummingbird just sit and be. Wow, what an invitation.
Mmm…this is wise and lovely, as always. Thank you for this nudge toward stillness.