One More Step

Look to the winged ones who soar on the wind. Do they plant seeds or gather the harvest into storehouses? No! But the Creator gives them plenty to eat. Do you not know that God cares even more for you? Can worry add even one more step to the length of your life’s journey? ~ Matthew 6:26-27 (First Nations Version)

One of the best tools in learning how to identify birds obviously is direct observation. The day that I learned that sometimes hummingbirds will utilize the holes drilled by sapsuckers to get a sip of sap, I saw it in action. More precisely, it was in the very moment that the birder I was with pointed out a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker hammering out a line of holes that a Ruby-throated Hummingbird paid a visit to the well, practically before the birder finished the sentence.

Wouldn’t it be nice is all teaching were that simple, clear, and precise? Alas, life lessons are more typically taught in the long haul. Like the lesson that sapsuckers are not lessened by sharing the resource. If they were, they would defend their efforts from interlopers. We see that all the time in the natural world. Despite the general abundance, each ecological biome tends not to overproduce or under-produce, thus each organism exploits their niche and stays in their lane. Long-term observation of creation teaches balance and cooperation. Sometimes, we are fortunate enough to have the shortcut of shared knowledge so that we might learn, but it remains our work to walk with the knowledge to create wisdom.

Wisdom will teach us to be kind and considerate because we understand that the journey is long. In fact, the journey is longer than the path we will walk. Others will go to places we will not live to see. Wisdom will also teach us to remain in this moment. Those holes won’t drill themselves, and if we are a hummingbird, we may require patience as we wait on a helper. In this moment, whatever the conditions, we are wise to tend to the present needs because worry about tomorrow only steals energy from today.

Prayer: Great Spirit, thank your for our daily bread, and the strength for today. Amen