大象传媒

A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with Fr Dermot Preston

The Wasp

Good morning.

There weren鈥檛 many flowers around the Jesuit mission station of Kurukubaru in the northern Amazon.

I was looking-out over the remains of the kitchen garden, cultivated 50 years before; the jungle was claiming back the garden, so only a couple of plants were resisting the encroachment.

I saw a wasp hovering over one of the flowers. It was a big wasp 鈥� perhaps it was a hornet? I approached to identify it, and (as it didn鈥檛 seem threatened) I moved up-close-and-personal and stared.

It wasn鈥檛 a wasp. It wasn鈥檛 a hornet. It was a tiny hummingbird.

It hovered, its long needle-like beak drinking the nectar in the bell-chamber of the flower.

It was magnificent sight.

Hummingbirds are found across the Americas, from Alaska to Tierra del Fuego. The smallest weigh just 2 grammes, but with a metabolism to handle both high speed acrobatic flight and hover motionless at 80 wingbeats a second, they have an ability to respond to both threat and opportunity with lightning speed.

There is story that comes from the Peruvian side of the Amazon. The basic tale is that one day a fire broke out in the jungle and all the animals ran away fearing for their lives.

But the Jaguar saw a hummingbird still darting around. The Jaguar asked what he was doing and the hummingbird replied 鈥淚 am flying to the lake and get water to help put out the fire.鈥�

The Jaguar laughed and said, 鈥淵ou鈥檙e crazy! You can鈥檛 put out this fire!鈥�

But the hummingbird replied, 鈥淎t least I am doing what I can do.鈥�

Lord, when the times seem dark & overwhelming, give me the grace not to panic, but to intuit the need and respond generously, trusting in Your presence to do the rest.

Amen.

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