Blind Faith (No. 36, 2008)
Another bird-on-deck parable:
When my wife, Sherron, and I had our deck built, we replaced
large floor-to-ceiling double windows with a triple-wide patio door
leading onto the deck. The expanse of glass both floods the den with
natural light and offers a broad view of the deck and sights beyond. A
pleasant feature right outside the window on the deck is a potted
salvia plant. We always have salvia there, because its brilliant red
blossoms are favorite feeding stops for hummingbirds. Elsewhere in the
yard, we have tree-form hibiscus plants, with double crimson blossoms
that also are natural hummingbird diners. As a result, we get to enjoy
frequent visits by hummingbirds with different patterns of coloration.
Our favorites are the ones with green feathers on their backs, black
wings and heads, and gray across the breast. Sherron is always excited
to report visits by hummingbirds to the salvia, clearly observable from
the den, as they hover amazingly for their in-flight draughts of
nectar. We have even been buzzed a time or two by hummingbirds when we
were outside, apparently at their mealtime.
Last Sunday, we were finishing cups of coffee after lunch when
Sherron spotted a hummingbird at the salvia, letting me know that we
had a visitor. Just a couple of minutes later, we heard a sharp THUD
against the glass of the patio door. “What was that, the hummingbird?”
I asked. Sherron got up from her chair across the den from the door,
and looked out mere inches from the glass. “O, my! Yes!” she said. A
hummingbird lay sprawled out on the deck, lying on its back, its wings
extended and its head skewed at an unnatural angle to its body. Its
tail feathers twitched erratically, either blown by gusts of wind on
the breezy afternoon, or involuntarily as the little bird lay in
obvious distress. “I think its neck is broken,” Sherron said. “What
should we do?” Although I love hummingbirds, I was not anxious to
incur the expense of neurosurgery and NICU veterinary care for our
visitor, nor did I want to make its condition worse by moving the at-
least-dazed bird. “Let’s give it some time,” I replied, “and see what
becomes of it.”
Sherron noted the time of impact. She went out onto the deck
through the door in the kitchen to water other plants on the deck.
While on the deck, she took a long, close look at the motionless
hummingbird. From the stairs of the deck, she could see the probable
cause of the hummingbird’s catastrophic collision. The early afternoon
light caused the door glass to reflect the deck and the sky with mirror
clarity. She could not see into the den from outside. Apparently, the
hummingbird had drunk its fill at the salvia, then assumed it was
taking a perfectly clear flight path — right into the door glass, with
disastrous results.
Stepping back into the kitchen, Sherron walked to the den for
another vantage point. To her surprise, the hummingbird had begun to
move its head back and forth to one side, and to move its wing on that
side. She returned to the kitchen to warm another cup of coffee for 90
seconds in the microwave. When she returned to the den, the
hummingbird was sitting up on its feet! It turned its head tenuously
side to side. It fluttered its wings, although it did not take flight
or lift from its perch on the deck floor. The tiny bird simply sat for
about five minutes, seemingly trying to regain its wits. Occasionally,
it would look quickly to either side. Then, twenty five minutes after
the unsettling collision, the hummingbird took a hop, its wings beating
at blurring speed, and it fluttered and flew away! Sherron said that
she had committed the hapless bird into God’s care some time
before.
Hear the parable of the stunned hummingbird. It is not
intended to be an allegory, in which each element in the story stands
for some feature of the readers’ lives. Allegorical interpretations
are applied to almost all parables, but the entirety of the story in
the parable is often the most powerful message.
Our hummingbird suffered its injury through no faulty judgment
or misconduct. It apparently saw what looked like a perfectly safe
path to fly on its way to another feeding flower, or perhaps back home
after a satisfying meal. But the image of open sky concealed the
unyielding glass, and its natural flight speed created an impact that
left the beautiful hummingbird stunned and utterly helpless.
Fortunately, God so gifted living things with regenerative energies and
abilities, that after a period of anxious rest, the diminutive bird
resumed its wondrous hovering and flitting flight.
Sometimes, calamities happen in our lives that have no ill-
intention, whatsoever, as their cause. No malice, no negligence, no
self-serving ambition, no animosity, no lapse in judgment creates the
catastrophe, it just happens. We may be left stunned, disoriented,
disabled, or worse. We wonder if we can survive. Thanks be to God, we
may find that some quiet moments in God’s care allow new possibilities
to regenerate, and our lives can resume.
A Psalm of David – who was afflicted both by trouble of his own
making, the ill intentions of others, and some things that just
happened – testifies to the secret to regaining life in the face of
disaster. David wrote of the need to simply sit still in God’s care
for awhile: ” God is our protection and our strength. He always helps
in times of trouble. {2} So we will not be afraid even if the earth
shakes, or the mountains fall into the sea, {3} even if the oceans roar
and foam, or the mountains shake at the raging sea…. {10} God says,
‘Be quiet and know that I am God….’ {11} The LORD All-Powerful is
with us; the God of Jacob is our defender.” (Psalm 46:1-3, 10a, 11 NCV)
Our hearts may race anxiously as we try to sit still in God’s care and
trust his design and grace to restore us, but his record of restoration
is proven.
Of course, many disasters happen due to our own wayward
schemes. In the cartoons, Wile E. Coyote schemed to catch Road Runner
by painting an apparent railroad tunnel on the side of a rock cliff.
Coyote would lay railroad tracks leading to the rock face, expecting
Road Runner to come speeding along the tracks, smashing into the image
of the railroad tunnel. What happened most often, however, was that
Wile E. Coyote would chase Road Runner along the bogus tracks,
forgetting that the tunnel was just a painted image, and smash in to
the rock himself. Or, he would think he had Road Runner cornered
against the rock face, only to have a locomotive emerge from a real
tunnel and flatten him on the tracks. Sometimes, we set the stage for
our own catastrophes.
We are instructed in the scriptures to do all we can to avoid
getting ourselves into calamitous situations we can avoid. Paul
cautions followers of Jesus to wake up, to be alert, to realize that
dangers lurk around us, especially endangering our living consistent
lives that display the love and grace of Christ. He writes, ” Watch
your step. Use your head. Make the most of every chance you get. These
are desperate times! Don’t live carelessly, unthinkingly. Make sure you
understand what the Master wants. (Ephesians 5:15-17, The
Message) God’s quiet care is always available, even when we get
ourselves into a jam. His intention for us, though, is to be attuned
to his way of love and grace, and to make every effort to stay out of
trouble.
Have you crashed and burned? Did it just happen to you, in
spite of your best judgment and intentions? Or, did you set yourself
up for disaster? In either case, the most powerful restorative answer
comes from Psalm 46: “Be still, and know that I am God.” Resting
awhile in his care may be exactly what you need to put you back on your
wings.
J. Edward Culpepper, Ph.D.
