At the beginning of my walk this morning, I saw 2 hummingbirds above me on a telephone wire. I snapped a quick picture because I almost never see them sitting still. Of course, since they are only about 4 inches long, the picture didn't turn out well enough to publish. And yesterday, when one was buzzing around my head as I transplanted some plants in our yard, I didn't have my camera (phone) at the ready.
As I was walking, I saw a heron near the shore in one of the many coves along the coast. I kept walking, though, as my plan was to make it to the beach and back. At the end of the beach, I was rewarded by another heron taking advantage of low tide to hunt for breakfast. And I sat for a long time watching it and snapping pictures, trying to get one that was perfect. As I watched, I felt my heart rate and breathing slow.
The heron is so patient. It can be utterly still for minutes at a time as it waits for a fish to swim by. It moves very slowly and carefully in the water, so as not to disturb potential prey.
The hummingbird, by contrast, is almost constantly in motion, zooming from flower to flower, shrub to shrub, tree to tree, stopping only for the briefest of moments.
Their natures are very different. Just like people. Some of us are more like the heron, and some more like the hummingbird. Which is why we react differently to events. We are seeing a lot of hummingbirds these days - people who are eager to move, for whom stillness is stifling, losing patience with the slowness of "reopening" whatever it is they want to see open. We are also seeing a lot of herons - people who are welcoming a slower, more deliberate pace, who are happy to be still and watchful, patiently waiting.
We cannot blame each other for our natures. Navigating this pandemic requires us to understand our own natures, and the natures of others, and work together so that all may thrive. It is not either/or. We do not need to open everything up quickly, or keep everything closed until there is a vaccine. There are real costs to be weighed every step of the way. My prayer today is that we work a little harder to understand the motivations of people who have a different nature than we do, so that we might look for common ground and realize that it is not "us" versus "them." It is all of us against a virus that cannot understand, reason, or plan. We have the advantage of being capable of all of those things.
Are you more a heron, or a hummingbird? How does thinking about their differences help you understand your feelings in this pandemic?