Lured by a Great Love

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I led them with cords of human kindness, with bands of love.

I was to them like those who lift infants to their cheeks.

I bent down to them and fed them. ~ Hosea 11: 4

In her book, The Backyard Bird Chronicles, Amy Tan imagined gaining the trust of hummers so they would dine on the palm of her hand. She removed all her hummingbird feeders to clean and refill them. While the nectar was cooling, she heard the hummers impatiently making cracking sounds. She decided to sit still in her yard, holding her hand out with a tiny red feeder to lure them. Within minutes, she felt the wind from the beating of the hummer's wings and then the hummer landed on the palm of her hand and began drinking the nectar. She held her breath and kept as still as possible. He drank for a few seconds, flew away, and then returned flying near her face and looked into her eyes and then darted down to the palm of her hand to drink again. She could feel the breeze from his wings. Tan exclaimed with excitement, "He had acknowledged me. We have a relationship. I am in love." This sacred moment changed her life.

The natural world is God's way of speaking to us at a deep level and draws us to the Creator. Like Tan luring the hummer with food in the palm of her, God lures us with extravagant love. In the Hosea scripture, God is like a mother lifting her infant to her cheek. She feeds and cares for her child. It is an intimate picture of a mother's unconditional love for her child. In the same way, the Holy One gives a gentle invitation to you and to me, "Come, be with me. Spend time with me. Trust me. I want a deeper relationship with you".

Prayer:

Still me

until I hear your heartbeat

quiet me

until I feel your breathing

make me

one with your rhythms

move me

to the cadence of your love.

~Jan Richardson

Song: Come be with me

Come be with me

all you who carry heavy burdens

I will give you rest

I will give you rest

Reflection:

• Reflect on a time when you felt lured by God?

• As the scripture in Hosea 11: 3,4 notes, God is like a mother who bends down with love and lifts Her child to Her cheek. She feeds and cares for her child. She guides the steps of her child. How does this image speak to you?

Video: Ruby throated hummingbirds eating from my hand and more

Resources:

• How to enjoy hummingbirds. "The Hummingbird Facts and Information"

• Richardson, Jan. (1998). Night Visions. OH: United Church Press.

• Tan, Amy (2024). The Backyard Bird Chronicles. NY: Alfred A. Knope