Riff on a Rufous

Riff on a Rufous - Completed 18 January 2012 - Birthday Gift for a Friend

This was made as a gift for a friend's special birthday (never mind how many years). She lives part of the year in the mountains of Colorado and whenever I visit we spend time sitting on the deck watching the rufous humming birds squabble over who has entrance to the feeder first. The rufous hummingbirds also "bird dive" the other varieties of hummingbirds that try to visit the feeder. As I sat watching one year I was struck by the competition for food these tiny birds seem to have. They act as though there will not be enough food to go around. It reminded me of something I read long before the first day I watched the hummingbirds. The article said we have the means to end world hunger but not the will.

I believe instead of the will, it is our inability to imagine. The human scope rarely extends enough to imagine a world where no one goes hungry. I think that's why Jesus did most of what he did one-on-one most of the time. The interpretation in the Gospels of why Jesus fed 4000 and/or 5000 people has been interpreted and reinterpreted. Scholars have come up with all kinds of reasons, making riffs, if you like, of what the Gospels have to say about those episodes. One again, I believe that also is a failure of our ability to imagine. Most of us are simply incapable of wrapping our brains around the idea of no one being hungry in that setting. In particular, the explanations about the miracle Jesus performed consisted of getting people to understand they needed to share what they had and that made enough food to go around. Whose failure to imagine the power of Jesus is that?

I'm indebted to the Rev Dr Rob Voyle (www.appreciativeway.com) for saying the following, although I am certainly not quoting exactly what he said. The gist was this: Most of us can't imagine every child in the world going to bed with a full tummy. But if you scale it down to something we can imagine, then we can do something about it. For instance, ask people, Can you imagine all the children in your city going to bed with a full tummy? No? Well how about all the children in the western half of your city? No? How about in the area around the park there? No? Well then, how about all the children who live on the block next to where your church is? Yes? Okay then, let's get to work.

So just imagine what that would be like. Can you see or smell the food or hear the happy sounds of children eating a great meal? Or maybe you can taste the meal itself? In whatever way you imagine, imagine what that would be like. And then work backward from there to make it happen.

It might seem a long way from a rufous hummingbird to world hunger, but in Jesus' eyes I think it might be a very short distance. One thing of beauty: the hummingbird, connects to another thing of beauty: children able to grow, learn, and create because their tummies are full. One child at a time. One block at a time. One person at a time imagining it happening. One person at a time doing something about it.

The Rev. Nicolette Papanek

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