NIGHTINGALES, PEACOCKS, AND HUMMINGBIRDS

NIGHTINGALES, PEACOCKS, AND HUMMINGBIRDS

Sometimes when reading, a line will be so intriguing that I stop reading and do research. Such was the case with this line, “Spend less time with the nightingales and peacocks. One is just a voice, the other just a color.”

I understood the linkage between the peacock and color. I was baffled by the nightingale and

voice. Here’s what I learned: The most remarkable feature of the nightingale is its vast repertoire of 180 to 260 songs used to communicate. The small and nondescriptive creature, while common in Europe and Asia, migrates hundreds of miles in the winter to sub-Saharan Africa, is not found in Tennessee or anywhere else. Given their name, one would think they all sang at night -that honor belongs to the unpaired male and only during mating season. In their three-year life span, this social loner uses its big voice between April and June only.

Peacocks walk about with the utmost confidence but are silent. They are dressed in the finest long and colorful feathers, their tail being 60% of their body. They are loners by day but when the sun goes down, they gather in the trees in numbers. Known to live 40 to 50 years, they hold the distinction of being the largest, albeit slow and low, flying bird.

So, there you have it, one very small bird who does nothing but sing and one very large bird who walks around looking pretty!

The quote invites us to spend less time with people whose character mimics either of these birds. The nightingale-like person is all talk, and the peacock person is all about walking around and looking pretty. Neither represents a depth of character. Neither is a bad person, but they can only give and be who they are.

I have decided I want to be a hummingbird and hang with hummingbirds. They embody the characteristics of both species. They are voiceless but you would never know it. They make the most pleasing, beautiful humming sound with the fluttering of their wings as they go about the business of taking care of themselves. The small beautifully arrayed creature is the most maneuverable bird on the planet and can fly the distance from Mexico to Alaska.

That’s who I want to be – more than a pretty voice or body. I want the work that I do to be beautiful and pleasing to the world around me. I want to be flexible and to be able to maneuver the changes and challenges of life. I want to be the kind of person who can go distance. I hope that I am, and I seek to draw those with similar characteristics into my life.

Matthew 5:16

PONDER THIS THOUGHT---Practice spreading joy and beauty using words when necessary.