Close Encounters of the Simplest Kind
We don’t normally sit on the deck for Centering Prayer, but this morning was off schedule and it’s where we ended up. After the reading we sat still. Maybe five minutes into the silence I saw a blur on the far edge of the low table in front of me. In a flash I heard a whirring, like the sound of a drone. The blur sped past my face, wheeled and came to a hovering stop in front of the tiny red flowers in the two small pots on the table.
It was a ruby-throated hummingbird, dipping her needle beak into this flower, then the next, and the next. Maybe four feet from my nose. Without moving my head, I glanced at Pam. Her look said, Can you believe this?
The theophany lasted less than a minute, though in the midst of it all there was a timeless sense of forever, a glimpse of eternity. I never saw the sprite fly away; she simply disappeared, was gone.
The last few days, off and on, I’ve been drawn back to that moment and wondered what it meant. There are people who say if you’re visited by an eagle it means this, if you encounter an owl it means that, and a hummingbird means something else. I’m glad for those people, but I can’t attach anything so specific to my experience. Still, the power of that presence won’t leave me. Part of my bafflement is—it’s so small. You could mistake a hummingbird for a large insect, and “all” I did was see it up close. The whole thing was—objectively speaking—not a big deal.
But it was. That’s, I think, because it’s the little, random things that actually end up moving us. And they’re almost always epiphanies of nature, wild things whose closeness seems to pierce the veil between us and the “Other.” Deep encounters with another person can rend the veil as well.
What do they mean? Who knows. But to have a brush with something too big to name—that’s enough. What matters is direct experience: we know what we saw, what we felt. What sort of visitation was it? Don’t know. Some departed soul? Maybe. Was it God? Couldn’t exactly say.
But…was it real? No question.
There are a lot of hummingbirds in Wareham, and I’ve been stopped short a couple of times when one hovered a foot or so from my face – eye level. Just like yours, each one disappeared, leaving only a memory of wings and a low hum. I think those moments were so astonishing because, unlike all the times I’ve seen hummingbirds on the branches outside a window, I wasn’t the observer: I was being observed, seen, noted. Being seen is powerful, even briefly. I hope there are many more hummingbirds on your deck as years go by. Peace, Johnna
In our seeming journey through illusory space and time there is absolutely nothing that is random. For there is no ‘was’ nor a ‘will be’ there is only the eternal IS. Consequently, one cannot help but ever be at the right place at the right time. Your encounter with the hummingbird and your response was as it has always been.
About the hummingbird…”Overall, Hummingbird as a spirit animal represents flexibility (our ability to accept and implement change), lightheartedness, and joy. Other associations shared by these Lightworkers include remaining present, freedom, awakening happiness and hope, a lightness of spirit, quick responses, reversing melancholy, tirelessness, and fortitude.”
Source: https://whatismyspiritanimal.com/spirit-totem-power-animal-meanings/birds/hummingbird-symbolism-meaning/
Deep encounters with another person can rend the veil as well.
Amen
“…it’s the little, random things that actually end up moving us.” The unexpected usually makes me take notice, I think, because I’m *not* looking for it. My challenge is to pay attention and ask if there’s something meant for me. The “random” word, person, idea, etc., tends to resurface – not so random after all.
Yes, “random” is the view from our side of the veil.
“Some have entertained angels unaware.” Nobody ever said angels gotta be big.
That’s a weighty argument!