Swarm Time in the Texas Hills

Yesterday I wrote about the Light, and then I had a dream about Humming Birds and the light, let me share it with you.  Back to Isaiah tomorrow.

It is Swarm time for the Humming birds at the Rice’s home; they empty two feeders each day, and our cat Dale enjoys hiding in the few bushes that are in bloom and waiting for the opportunity to grab a play toy.   That cat is patient, she’s cunning, yes, she is crafty and deceitful and she loves to torment her catch.  She will bring the little humming bird into our garage and play with it and then will let it go.  Sounds great, but the cat knows something from experience that you may not know, the bird never flies out the small opening in the door that the cats come in, it flies up to the ceiling, and the ceiling in our garage is 12 feet and the doors to the garage are only 9 feet.

So you have Jan and I, over and over trying to rescue the little humming bird, but even with both doors fully open the bird will not fly to the light of day, it just bumps the ceiling for hours, until it runs out of fuel and comes down to the cats.  The cats then play with it for a while and then one of them bites it head off and leaves the rest for a gift to us.

We have had one in the garage for three days, over and over we try to catch it, but it will not be caught by us, and last night I dreamed about that bird, and in my dream the voice said, is that not just like people, now that got my attention.  How can a bird too foolish to escape through two fully opened garage doors be compared to a person?

In my dream the voice told me to look at the players, the cat was in the role of the devil, and like the devil, it is patient and cunning, he enjoys the hunt, and like the cat, the devil knows that once in his grasp it will not go to the light, and that is when the play time begins.  The garage is the world, and in the birds case it is the 12’ ceilings, it is out of the reach of the cat, and for the person, often the ceiling is false security, your at the top of your game getting everything you believe will bring peace, but you find no peace.

Jan and I play the role of the messenger opening the doors to the bird and exposing the light, but the frightened bird will not come to the light; he/she will not accept the help or the message of the messenger.  In my seventy plus years, how often I’ve seen this played out in the life of people I care for.

And once more the devil and the cat are waiting for the real game to begin, the total destruction of the bird or the person.  Not sure why I had this dream, maybe two much food to late at night, are maybe the LORD was reminding me that I often am just like that humming bird.  Do you recall Jesus said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”  John 8:12

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice