A HUMMINGBIRD LECTURE
Our neighbor across the street transformed her front yard into a garden of color and beauty. One afternoon while sitting on the lawn swing on my front porch, my attention was drawn to a hummingbird that was in it’s very own heaven of color and fragrance in my neighbors garden.
As I watched this little bird moving quickly from flower to flower, it all of a sudden changed direction and flew across the street right into my yard and planted herself upon a rail right in front of me. My deck had a bench that ran around one end of it which had a support back. Underneath was this rail upon which my visitor sat perched and began to lecture me.

I was so bewildered because I had never seen a hummingbird do anything like that. After she ended her tirade, she flew back to the garden. I watched more intently and again she changed directions and flew back to perch on my rail. This time I tried to talk to her! I asked her if she had come a long way to find the garden across the street. She replied but again I felt she was chastising me. She cocked her tiny head from one side then to the other. She made a couple of tiny turns and then starred at me again. I had to laugh, because it all seem so absurd!
Startled, she flew back to the garden! I continued to watch and she returned one more time. This time she just sat there and then she flew away. Needless to say, for several days after that I looked for her. She may have returned to the Garden but she never perched on my rail again.

Whenever I think of this tiny miracle of life, I am reminded of the story/movie "The Secret Garden". I know those who have read this story have experienced tiny miracles of life also. They are almost unbelievable and yet I know they are real. My question was why did she act like that? Why was she so angry at me? Perhaps she felt threatened by my proximity to her garden. Perhaps she had been planning on making a nest and wanted to do that in secret.

I think that God sends these little splashes of joy into our lives to remind us who He is.
He is the one that created all things. He is the one that brought the world and all that is in it, into existence. God said let there be and it was! God’s sense of humor is evident with the fish in the seas; the birds in the air; the flowers and trees; the hills and mountains; the rock walls and rim rocks that circle the hills; the winds; the rains; the snow that falls so lightly; the changes of the seasons which delight our eyes; the smells that permeate our surroundings and cause us to remember. When God was through indulging Himself through His creation, He saw that everything was good!

Then He looked around and saw that He wanted more! So He created animals of all species; babies and full grown. Then His greatest masterpiece of all, man! Again, God looked around and saw that everything was good! Somewhere during or after His creations, a situation occurred in heaven and God commanded Lucifer to leave in no uncertain terms. During Adam and Eve’s sojourn in the beautiful garden of Eden, that God had created for them, a most disturbing incident took place. Lucifer, now called the serpent confronted Eve with a most disparaging question; "Indeed, has God said, ‘You shall not eat from any tree of the garden’?"

Genesis 3:1-24 gives us the story about how the perfect picture of Adam and Eve in the garden came to an end. Satan deceived Eve and she ate! Eve gave the fruit to Adam and he ate! Sin destroyed the beautiful world that God created for them! Now we must endure, what was once perfect, living in a sinful world among God’s, still beautiful, creation. In verse 22 God says that Adam and Eve must leave the garden so they cannot eat of the tree of life and live forever. Man was intended to live forever on earth but through Christ we can live forever with Him in heaven. God was prepared and had a plan from the beginning! By Jane Ann Crenshaw 10/24/08