Daily Sustenance: 2 August 2009

Dear Friends,

Every evening, as we sit at table for supper, we witness a flurry of activity at the hummingbird feeder. Even though there are eight feeding holes at the base of the feeder, each evening there were at least five or six hummingbirds vying for a spot at the feeder for refreshment and nourishment. Two will approach and upon seeing each other, will make a frenzied and usually successful attempt to prevent each other from gaining their intended sustenance. Though it doesn’t happen often, on occasion I have seen two or even three hummingbirds feeding at the same time, apparently unaware they are sharing the same food. A most common occurrence is the early arrival of the male I have dubbed “the sentry”. Each evening his appearance at his post on top of the feeder hanger signals the onset of this most active feeding time. He watches for approaching hummingbirds and when they come near he darts off after them, chases them away and then returns to his post. I wonder if the other hummingbirds grumble about being hungry and unable to reach the feeder while “the sentry” maintains his post. Eventually though, he does leave and the others come by, one by one, and are able to receive their evening sustenance.

After leaving Egypt, where they lived in slavery but at least knowing where their next meal was coming from, and wandering in the hot, dry, barren desert the Israelites began to grumble about the lack of food (Exodus 16:2-3). It was as if they viewed Moses and Aaron as my little sentry hummingbird - as leaders who prevented the Israelites from receiving daily sustenance. The story is a familiar one – God provides manna, bread, each morning, enough to fill and sustain each and everyone. It’s truly a test of human faith but more significantly it is a sign of the mercy, care, compassion, grace, blessing and love of the Sacred Provider.

Who or what in our life and relationships, our community, our world symbolizes “the sentry”, preventing those in need of receiving daily bread – be it in the form of food, employment, justice, mercy, compassion, understanding, spiritual nourishment? Are there ways we too may at times be “the sentry” obstructing others from obtaining such daily bread? What are the signs, both subtle and visible, all around us – in our lives, in others, in nature – that point us toward seeing and receiving and even being the grace and peace and nourishment we and others yearn for and need to feed our very souls?

Peace on the Journey