Dear Friends,
This past Sunday afternoon, as I stood on the front porch of Northwest with many of you during the memorial plaque dedication, I noticed the few rays of sun that peaked out and brightened a previously gray morning. I also noticed a hummingbird buzz its way into the garden, where it paused at the red trumpet flowers planted there. It hovered for a few moments, took a dainty sip of nectar, and then blasted off through the pine trees and out of sight.
I never get tired of seeing hummingbirds. They are among the smallest of birds, with some weighing less than a penny. But what they lack in size and heft, they make up in other ways. Hummingbirds flap their wings anywhere from 12 to 80 times a second, and they can travel great distances (the Ruby-throated Hummingbird, for example, flies nonstop 500 miles across the Gulf of Mexico). Hummingbirds are able to slow down their metabolism when needed to conserve energy, such as at night, and rev it up again in the morning when it is time to fly around in search of food.
There is so much concentration, determination and Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah-ness in those beautiful little bodies! I marvel at their small power and how Nature built such amazing little creatures.
I’m also reminded that small power exists in little groups of people at Northwest. I see small power in the little group who came together to establish the lovely memorial garden and its handsome bronze plaque . . . in the group that manages the kitchen each Sunday and provides coffee and snacks . . . the group that installed carpet and painted walls . . . the group that teaches our children and provides programs for our adults . . . the group behind the transformation of Northwest’s website . . . the list goes on.
Mother Teresa wrote “Be faithful in small things because it is in them that your strength lies.” Northwest, you zip and dart . . . and get some amazing things done. And, I marvel at the small power in you. It is your beautiful strength.
Warmly,
Terry
Rev. Terry Davis