  Spiritual
This week: Patience and Hummingbirds Edited by: Sophy New Year  
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Hi, I'm Sophy New Year ~ your editor for this edition of the Spiritual Newsletter.
The Rev. Scotty McLennan, author of the book Finding Your Religion, compares humanity's innate need for spiritual searching to climbing a mountain. In his view, we are all endeavoring to climb the same figurative mountain in our search for the divine, we just may take different ways to get there. In other words, there is one "God," but many paths. I honor whatever path or paths you have chosen to climb that mountain in your quest for the Sacred.  |
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Patience and Hummingbirds
Wild Birds Unlimited, my source for information, feeders, and feeding products to entice a variety of birds into my backyard, suggested that I hang my hummingbird feeders outside in mid-April a few years ago. Hummingbirds are usually spotted where I live by then, and although they tend to migrate up from the south via rivers and creeks, and prefer to spend their summers in woody areas around bodies of water – they eventually make their way into town. And the sooner they find your feeder, the sooner you have summer hummingbirds.
So we planted the flowers they like as extra enticement, and hung three hummingbird feeders in mid-April, and even though there was nary a hummingbird in sight, I refilled them all with fresh feeder nectar every 4-5 days throughout the summer so that when they did finally show up, they would have a nice source of nourishment waiting for them. And we waited, and we waited. Friends reported hummingbirds at their feeders by late June and July – but the only things our feeders seemed to attract were ants and wasps.
By mid-August we still had no hummingbirds, and I was getting ready to take the feeders down and clean them out, figuring that for whatever reason they had skipped our house. But instead of taking them down I filled them one last time. And a few days later we spotted something darting in and out around the maple tree that shades our deck, where two of the feeders were hanging. At first I figured it was a bumble bee, but just in case I kept my eyes peeled on the feeder for several moments, and sure enough, a hummingbird eventually swooped down to the feeder for a snack.
Within a few days, at least half a dozen or so hummingbirds were buzzing around our deck, chasing each other away from the feeders because they don’t appear to be very good with the concept of sharing. And we spent hours either sitting inside or at the table on our deck, watching them dart in and out, preparing for their trip back down south.
I am not a patient person – it’s hard for me to be patient and wait for things in life. Whether it’s impatience about hummingbirds, or counting the days until a much anticipated vacation, patience is not a virtue that I have been blessed with. I also get impatient about justice issues – I want everyone to have affordable access to quality healthcare RIGHT NOW. I want wars to end, and people all around the world to have enough food to eat and shelter to protect them from the elements and access to education and medical care. I want answers to questions, some of which are ultimately unanswerable. And when I don’t get the results or answers that I want, sooner than later, sometimes I give up and walk away, thinking that whatever it is just isn’t going to happen – much like almost taking down and putting the hummingbird feeders away in the middle of August.
But because I was patient that summer a few years ago, and kept up the work of cleaning and refilling my feeders, now dozens of hummingbirds know our house is a great place to stop for a drink, not only during their migration but some stick around all summer. And every time I see one, I am reminded that sometimes, if I am patient enough, I may get just what I am hoping for - and that has helped me become more patient about the other things in life I care about.
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Below you'll find some spiritual offerings from other WDC members. Please let the folks know if you read their piece by leaving a thoughtful comment or review.
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Here are some responses to my last newsletter "Spiritual Newsletter (January 11, 2017)" } about the difference we can make in 2017:
From Quick-Quill  :
I'd like to say I'll finish my work in progress. I expect I will have the initial work done and begin the second draft. I still work part time. I wanted to travel with my husband but he has to leave on short notice and I can't do that to my boss. I'd like to make my goal this year to declutter and move the office from upstairs to the little front storage room across from the dining room. Then use the empty room as a media room/library.
I'd like to do that....
Best of luck to you!
   
From {suser:mshirae]:
Hi Sophy,
Thank you for another thoughtful editorial, particularly the thought provoking statement: "So as we enter 2017, how will you make the most of your days and weeks? What activities can you partake to send waves of peace and compassion across our little corner of the Universe?".
How we respond to the question, can make a significant difference to our well-being and those around us.
p.s. Thank you for highlighting "Invalid Item" in your newsletter.
Since the start of 2017, I've added additional articles to "Invalid Item"
You are most welcome to browse through them and use them when suitable.
Thank you so much for responding, and sharing!
From: {suser:bamid2}
The article was a great one, very well planned, well delivered, and the author relayed the idea that we have to have certain goal to reach for every day of our lives and therefore, be able to make a difference in our lives and the ones of others.
This is certainly true because if we have no ambition in our lives, we will be wasting our times with no results but if we take more and more responsibility and accomplish more and more ( considering our goals), not only we will have a happier life, but also we will have a feeling of accomplishment which will be a great feeling in life.
It is a great idea to write your goals once a week and find a way to reach them by a daily planning- We also have to have a statistic every week in order to compare our accomplishments and plan accordingly.
Thank you,
Bijan Amid
Thanks for sharing!
Thanks for all your comments - keep them coming!  Until next time, Sophy New Year |
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Spiritual: February 08, 2017 Issue [#8117]
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