Conceal/Reveal

I love animals, all kinds, wild or domestic. On occasio
I will go birdwatching, an activity I was introduced to during my graduate studies in environmental science. I can identify way more birds than the average person, which makes me a sub-novice in the bird watching world. I am not as passionate or dedicated as really serious birdwatchers, but I still enjoy going out and looking once in a while.

One of my favorite birds is the hummingbird. I just visited Arizona and was happy to have learned that there are some 16 different species here as opposed to just one back in New York. They are incredible little creatures. In some Native American cultures they are the symbol for joy. I have never met or observed anybody who has not exhibited that emotion upon seeing one.

Today I drove out to an arboretum some 50 miles east of Phoenix. It is a really lovely place. They had an amazing hummingbird garden. Dozens of hummingbirds hovering and darting around in incredible aerial maneuvers. Most of the time when you see them the feathers around their head, face and neck are black. Yet sometimes, right before your eyes, these black patches will catch the sun just right and there will be an instantaneous explosion of extraordinary color--from deep purples to bright reds. It is quite stunning!

After “recovering” from the blasts of intrinsic beauty and the splendor of this colorful light show, it occurred to me that these little joyful birds provided a deeply moving metaphor. The black that we see most of the time on them conceals all those brilliant colors. Then when the sunlight, the hummingbird and the observer are precisely aligned---revelation. Beyond that, those sometimes brief glimpses of what is mostly concealed, change our view of what is doing the concealing. You can never see the black on a hummingbird in the same way after you’ve seen what it has the potential to reveal.

We live in a universe where most all of what is contained is concealed. Then on occasion, if we are fortunate and the conditions are right, some deeper more meaningful things are revealed. Once we see and experience this relationship, we have a new, more intimate and joyful appreciation of the concealing aspects of our reality. And wether it’s observing hummingbirds or looking at things on a grander scale, all that we require is the light, some alignment and the willingness to keep looking.