I went out earlier than on the usual time in the afternoon for a stroll in the field beside the stream. I noticed that birds come to the cable earlier than the usual time these days. It was bright and was not suitable time for photography as the sunlight was too bright to capture the colours of the birds.
The afternoon turned out to be more meaningful than I had foreseen.
It was a celebration of avian colours.
The blue-tailed bee-eater was there, perched in the cable with its attention all around in the hope of catching its prey. But its waiting for about 20 minutes was in vain and it flew away.
The next was a Kingfisher looking steadfastly downward for any movement of fish in the reservoir of water below. It too had a long wait but moved on to another station after about fifteen minutes.
The story of these birds carried a metaphorical message to my consciousness.
Life is a journey in waiting to know, discern and act! The second kingfisher spotted the movement of a grasshopper and flew to catch it on time.
We do not wait aimlessly, but hopefully!
In the book, Spirituality in photography, taking pictures with deeper vision, Philip J. Richer invites us to 'slow down, to savour, and to see with fresh eyes'. A reviewer of the book wrote: 'Philip Richter gently guides and accompanies the reader in understanding the lenses of truth telling and telling stories. He illumines the importance of knowing the rules, breaking the rules and creating a rule of life in ordinary and everyday lives'.
Philip had this to say in page 15: 'Spirituality relates to patient, slow photography, which takes the time to stop, look, to wind down, to be truly present, to see withy eyes of the heart, to receive, make a picture rather than take it'. I liked the way he suggested to see rather than look at a bird. Looking is out of curiosity and seeing is a deeper consciousness of receiving and dwelling on it.
The word photography in Greek is a combination of two words, photos, meaning light and graphos meaning, drawing. A photographer is also called upon to draw the birds, which is another experience arising from the interior seeing.
For me, the thoughts after being greeted by the birds was a time to feel the inner resonance.
The two birds caught no prey after they waited long. One bird could found its feed.
It is good to have this overview about living. Our act of waiting on various occasions, longing for what we need or wish, can be fruitful whether we receive or not what we long for. The exercise of waiting is a sign of hope, perseverance, and earnestness, which is what we need as an inner temperament to grow in the experience of living with contentment. When we receive after waiting, it is a gift received! We wait to be given. That was the experience of the second Kingfisher.
The first Kingfisher showed us a wise option. It changed its waiting site from being on the cable to a post, from where it had a better view of the insects on the ground. It came to conclude that the water below, was not its source of food. What a practical and discerning approach! There is something more than what we are looking for, if only we can be open to wait with a changed perspective! It is the mid set, which is block from being given! The Kingfisher changed its expectation from finding fish to finding an insect.
The openness while waiting! When we are open, waiting becomes tarrying! The tarrying is hope giving and is rewarding.
A closed mind or an open mind!
That was a message that I carried with me at the end of the afternoon time with feathered friends in the field!
M.C.Mathew (text and photo)
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