The first thing I appreciate about hummingbirds is their artistic
beauty. Their beautiful colors have made them popular decorations on clothing,
indoor paintings and outdoor yard art. I once enjoyed a hummingbird rainbow
catcher in my kitchen window.
I admired these beautiful birds for years, until one day I observed
them from my office. I did not have a hummingbird feeder, but saw them flitting
about. I was fascinated as I noticed that every time one tried to eat at a
certain spot, another would dive bomb in and scare him away.
I had seen hummingbirds many times, flitting their wings at a sugar
feeder outside someone’s window. But I had never seen this aggressive behavior.
One day a group of us ladies went to lunch out by a lake. The
restaurant had hummingbird feeders placed in front of their windows. Once
again, I noticed the birds’ aggressiveness. When I expressed my amazement one
of the ladies said, “Oh, yes. They’re very territorial.” Another lady in the
group agreed.
I must say my unbridled enthusiasm for these colorful birds became somewhat abated. It seems silly to be disappointed by such a tiny creature, but I had judged them by their beauty. Now I was challenged to judge them by their actions.
Power on Wings
The aerodynamic capabilities of these magnificent creatures influenced
designers of hovercraft. Whenever I observe a helicopter flying overhead, I
think it’s awesome. When I think of the life-saving capabilities of these
aircrafts in disaster and war, I am grateful. But, sorry to say, the little
bird’s charm was gone.
My high expectations of beauty were dashed. Their colorful bodies were
admirable, but that did not make up for their hidden urge toward aggression. In
this case, seeing was believing and I changed my opinion. If judged outwardly,
they were beautiful. If judged by behavior, they were not.
It reminded me of a simple scripture in John 7:24: “Stop judging by
mere appearances, but instead judge correctly.” It’s no secret that people tend
to judge each other first by appearance. If we don’t know the person, what
other criteria do we have?
But if we’re smart, we’ll withhold judgment until we’ve had time to
observe them in action. If I’ve learned anything from hummingbirds, it’s that
outward beauty can be deceiving.
In people, we need to look a little deeper for character traits, speech
habits, a sense of fairness and wisdom. Hummingbirds aren’t the only ones who
are territorial. Human beings show this trait when they choose to win by
intimidation.
Intimidation
To intimidate means to “make timid.” No matter how beautiful or
handsome the person might be, intimidation is an aggressiveness that causes you
to withdraw from acting or speaking your own convictions or thoughts. Sometimes
it’s overt, and sometimes it’s covert, but either way it’s power in action.
