The Shadow of the Hummingbird
Photo taken in Sidney BC November 2024
There are moments when Kitchi Manitou speaks so quietly that we almost miss it.
I was photographing a purple flower one morning. The sunlight was coming from the side, not directly onto the bloom. Yet when I looked closer, I noticed what appeared to be the shadow of a hummingbird resting within the flower.
The strange thing was that there was no hummingbird near the flower when I took the photograph.
Perhaps it was simply light and shadow creating a shape. Perhaps it was something else. I do not claim to know. But what I have learned is that teachings do not always arrive wrapped in certainty. Sometimes they arrive as a question that stays with us.
As I sat with the image, I thought about all the times in life when Creator was present, yet unseen.
There have been seasons when I could not see the path ahead. Seasons of grief, loss, loneliness, and change. Yet when I looked back, I could see the traces left behind—the footprints, the feathers, the small signs that I was never truly walking alone.
The hummingbird is often associated with joy, resilience, and the ability to find sweetness in life. It is a tiny being that travels great distances, guided by something deep within its spirit.
Perhaps that is the teaching.
Not every message arrives in the form we expect. Sometimes Spirit leaves only a shadow, just enough for the heart to notice.
We do not always receive certainty. We do not always receive explanations. But if we remain still long enough, we may discover that Creator has been speaking to us all along—in the flowers, in the wind, in the winged ones, and in the quiet moments that ask us to pay attention.
The heart often sees what the eyes cannot.
I do not walk above anyone—
only beside them, as someone who has also walked through storms and learned how to listen when Spirit speaks softly.
May Kitchi Manitou guide your path, strengthen your heart, and remind you that even in difficult seasons, the spirit still carries light.
By Waubshki Migisi
from the heart of Loon + Sturgeon 🪶
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