I was watching our hummingbirds yesterday as they
swooped from feeder to feeder and fought between
themselves and I realized that they only live to
eat. They show some interesting behavior, though,
in living out this dictum.

When at any moment in time a hummingbird is only hours
away from starvation, why do they leave one perfectly
good feeder to flit away across the yard to another?
Their little wings have to beat 70 or so times per
second and use up tremendous amounts of the energy
they are seeking just to fly so far. They are naturally
discontent.

I have been ruminating on the idea of contentment lately.
It is hard to "Be still and know that I am God" when
we are discontent. Somewhere in the finding of that
wonderful state of mind and of lifestyle we have to be
slow and still and quiet and contemplative.

That is hard. Where in the midst of ball schedules,
company, keeping the home, and church schedules is there
space for that peace?

We can try to simplify our family life more than it is, but
even that takes tremendous amounts of energy and time.

Yet, there can be contentment even in the midst of the
busyness of daily living. The two are not mutually exclusive.
It is not the busyness, but it is the sense of hurriedness,
of never being satisfied, and of always seeking for something
better that is to be avoided.

It is not a deserted island that is filled with quiet that
I need. (Though in my sometimes dreams, a deserted island
with a huge amount of books and crossword puzzles seems almost
like my idea of heaven, of course there would be a coffee pot
there somewhere as well.) What is needed is to know that the
work at hand is good and that there is no need to flit and
flutter about in a nervous fashion. Do what needs to be done,
move on to the next job and then when there is a chance to
sit and rest, well, sit and rest. Be content with that.

And meanwhile, don't forget to fill the feeders or those poor
little hummingbirds will be flitting and flying and fighting
for nothing.