This is one of my favorite hummingbird pictures. Why? It is not because the precise details of the bird or flower bud are in sharp focus. But it is the opposite: it has an abstract feeling to it. The hummingbird is not exactly in focus. Yet the wings and tail are beautiful. The background is blurred. Yet that gives a soft feel to the photograph. Even the morning glory is out of focus. Yet the leaves add to the soft touch.
Someone could say, “You were lucky to get that shot!” That may be the case. But luck has been defined as Laboring Under Correct Knowledge. For weeks I had been observing the hummingbirds at our morning glories. I could see their feeding patterns. This morning this one was in a feeding frenzy. It had a route it followed from flower to flower and then off to the feeders. In a little while the pattern would repeat itself. All I needed to do was be ready when it would come to this morning glory bud. Eventually, it would return, and I was ready. And I got it! For 1/2000 of a second the shutter was open, and it froze the hummingbird in action forever. Luck? Maybe. But I like to think of it as laboring under correct knowledge.
Luck is a word Christians do not like to apply to their walk with the Lord. It sounds like a lucky person is not walking by faith. It implies that this person is only at the conjunction of uncontrollable coincidences that came together to make this event happen. But, if we are laboring under the correct knowledge of how the Lord wants us to walk with Him, then we are opening ourselves to His grace working in our lives. St. Paul repeats what the Lord told him: “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” St. Peter admonishes us to grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Laboring under correct knowledge in the Christian’s life allows the grace of God to flood our souls. If that is luck, then I will take all the luck I can get.
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