Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely. 1 Corinthians 13:12 (NLT)
My camera tends to do strange things sometimes. Over the years I have tried to figure out how to best operate it, but it seems to me that some of the controls are a bit counter-intuitive. And since I go a while between taking pictures, I forget what I learned about the silly thing the last time. So I end up with some rather strange effects, especially when I need to take a picture in a hurry.
The background in the camera’s image screen went almost black just as I took this picture. I really don’t know why that happened, as it was a rather bright morning. I’m sure I wasn’t controlling the thing, since I have no idea how to make that effect happen, if indeed I can. But I mashed the shutter anyway, and out came what I think is a rather interesting photo.
Pictured above is a male rufous hummingbird. These tiny birds migrate almost 4,000 miles, from Mexico in the winter to Alaska in the summer. In addition to their diet of plant nectar, they also eat insects, and have been seen catching them either in the air or taking them from spider webs.
The wingbeats of a rufous hummingbird have been recorded at about sixty per second. That makes the clarity of the wing in this photo even more amazing to me. Without the aid of photography, I could never see clearly enough to distinguish individual feathers doing their work as this bird flies about.
As the above Scripture states, I truly do see imperfectly, partially, and incompletely. At least for now. The writer of this chapter of the Bible tells us that when that which is perfect has come, that which is in part will be done away with.
When Christ returns, everything will be made clear. Perhaps then I’ll be able to see even the individual beats of a hummingbird’s wings. Or maybe I’ll be flying myself – who knows. Either way, it is going to be a great day.
Hope you have a good one today.