Throughout antiquity hummingbirds have stirred the imagination with legends and folklore that are steeped in meaning and wonder. Images of these delicate winged beings are seen as healers and the bearers of love, good luck and joy in the Native American culture. The Aztecs viewed hummingbirds as messengers from the Gods and ancestors.

In this photo a brother and sister share a tiny home perched in the overarching canopy of a towering avocado tree. The tree’s camouflage of greening offers protection and shelter from dangerous predators.

This lovely pair calls to mind the beauty discovered in the yin and yang of life. According to the Taoist philosophy "the yin yang signifies a balance between opposites and can be thought of as complimentary rather than opposing forces that intermingle to form a dynamic whole that is greater than the sum of its parts."

In all of life, everything is composed of both yin and yang aspects such as shadows which cannot exist without light. We see examples of this in all of nature with the sun and moon, morning and night, water and air, summer and winter.

 In Taoism “distinctions between good and bad, along with other dichotomous moral judgments, are perceptual, not real; so, the duality of yin and yang is an indivisible whole.”  

In Erie Chapman’s provocative essay, I found myself challenged by his inquiry (as only a true artist can do) which stimulated self examination. I reflected upon my spirituality and how it has evolved over time. I found myself wrestling with the questions and came to the realization that perhaps, I do not need answers.

What I do know is that I am so grateful to have been raised by my wonderfully human, loving, warm and hospitable parents. My mom, Irish Catholic and my dad agnostic, the yin and yang of relationships. I am learning to appreciate and embrace the contradictions that ultimately inform our lives and create wholeness.

God is in all of all; an all-inclusive love that continues to radiate out in expansive motion. Through acceptance and forgiveness comes healing, as the essence of our being shines through so uniquely and beautifully.

I am learning that I can rest in God.

May the peace that surpasses all understanding be upon us all.

Liz Sorensen Wessel

Photo by ~liz