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A Resurrection Story by Jim Bowie Last Sunday, Seiji Takahashi, found a small hummingbird outside his Sunday school classroom that was struggling in vain to fly. Although we don't know what happened, it seems likely that it hit a classroom window. In its fight for life, the bird worked its way into a gutter that was full of water. Not knowing what else to do, Seiji scooped the bird out of the gutter and, with the help of his classmates, built a make-shift nest in a small box. The bird was in a bedraggled, sorry state. What to do? Seiji and his sister Moet, along with my daughter, Julia, made some sugar water and started feeding her through a straw. This had an impressive effect. It was like they were charging a battery. The bird started lapping up the water with her tiny tongue and began flapping her wings, a first indication that she might be physically all right, but perhaps just dizzy from her (postulated) collision with the window. Nevertheless, after this exertion she simply lay there awkwardly. After intermittent feedings, she would sometimes show a burst of activity, regurgitate something, and then flop back down again into a pathetic heap. During this time she was named Pecker by Rev. Stickney's daughter Grace, who had happened along. A very sick bird now had a name. There was no question the hummingbird was coming home with us and I was not happy. I knew how this would end, as it always ended when I tried to nurse sick animals back to health in my childhood. There would be a funeral and tears. I wished God had kept the bird's misery out of our lives, as we were powerless to alter its fate. We placed Pecker out in our garden amongst the flowers, Julia and Eli (my son) fed her sugar water occasionally, and I hoped for a miracle. Later on in the afternoon, we were sitting out in the garden and chanced to look over at the box. There was Pecker, perched on the edge of the box! I thought she'd never be able to do that. We came back a half hour later, and Pecker was gone. In truth, I must admit that we don't really know that Pecker rose up and flew away. No one saw it happen, and there are other possibilities. But I choose to believe.
Copyright © 2005 St. Augustine by-the-Sea
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