Photo and Commentary ©2023 by Robert Howson
Tuesday, September 5, 2023
Have you ever stopped to wonder why one object might stop you dead in your tracks while another, similarly colored, is largely ignored? I confess, the thought didn’t enter my head as I admired the strikingly attired Crimson-collared Tanager perched nearby in the tropical foliage. This was my first encounter with this species, having never explored this part of Costa Rica before. Its beauty was undeniable and the setting undoubtedly contributed to my appreciation.
It wasn’t until returning home and looking over my pictures that it hit me. This tanager from the tropics was dressed in nearly identical hues as the Red-winged Blackbird which I virtually ignore whenever I take a walk down to the lake near my house.
Such is the nature of man. We tire easily of the packages after we have ripped them open, glanced at them for a brief moment, and then scurry on to satiate our hunger for something new and different.
Gratefully, our God is not like us in this regard. Isaiah comments on this in his description of God’s interest in His creations. “ ‘So – who is like me? Who holds a candle to me?’ says The Holy. ‘Look at the night skies: Who do you think made all this? Who marches this army of stars out each night, counts them off, calls each by name – so magnificent? So powerful! – and never overlooks a single one?’ ” (Isaiah 40:25-26 The Message) With limitless capacity for beholding, God never tires, never relegates any of us to the category of just ordinary.