Hummingbird Wisdom

Winged Jewel

With wings spun of silver and hearts of gold,
These tiny creatures our hearts behold.
With angelic features and colors so bright,
Make even the heaviest heart seem light.
The magical way they flit through the sky,
They appear, then vanish in the blink of an eye.
They're sending a message for us to retrieve,
Anything's possible for those who believe!
  Written by: Christopher Griffiths

Amazing gifts of God!  The basic facts about hummingbirds are remarkable: about 330 species, 3-5inches, wings beating 12-80 times per second, and they travel up to 34mph. However, I was most impressed by what I saw after hours of just watching them (and trying to take pictures!). 

A flock of 6-8 would suddenly arrive, eat one by one, and then vanish all at once. It was as if they were wired, a button was pushed, to make them come and go on cue.  How do they communicate cues for this stage show?  

Then I thought of the mayhem of people who try to create and live in community. Even between those from the same culture, communication is a thread that unravels relationships.  How does that phrase go--"What we have here is the failure to communicate!"   

The fact is that we are not wired like hummingbirds.  There is nothing more complex than communicating with each other. When we think about how we ourselves get messages, it won't surprise us to learn that 10% is literal word, 35% is tone, and 55% is body language.  Is it little wonder that social scientists are learning that the digital age increases the transmission of words while decreasing the effectiveness of communication?  The fallout has been a generation linked in cyberspace, but not in  relationships that communicate with words.  

We don't have to say that "communication is for the birds."  We can learn from the hummingbird how everyone benefits in community by communication.  The hummingbird knows it takes work, and that everyone is fed.