Beauty and Expectations

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.

Beauty we will always have with us, but let’s balance our expectations by judging from the inside out.