Feeding the Blackbirds

Okay, I am man enough to admit it: My wife has me hooked on feeding the birds. Though I cannot believe it happened to me, I have found myself stopping mid-stride just to watch the birds eat the feeders and listen to them in the neighboring trees as they gossip about what the weather is doing. All of which makes it twice as hard to know that as I make sure the bird-feeders are full of grain for the songbirds so, too, will the blackbirds be fed.

I thought about sitting at the dining room window with a BB gun and scaring the blackbirds off so the songbirds could eat, but I'm fairly sure it is neither legal, nor very kosher. So, if I want to feed the cardinals, the blackbirds have to be allowed in as well. If I want to feed the wrens, the blackbirds have to be allowed in as well. It is not like I can wave a magical wand and they will go away. They are the bullies on the block, the loud-squawking, claw-swinging, wing-batting bullies who will chase any bird away from the food they are seeking. They act like they personally own the place . . . which just steams me as they boldly sit on the cardinal feeder and strike out with their beak at any other bird that even gets close. It is all so unfair.

But then, it is a lot like the Table that Jesus sets for us all and, who knows, maybe we are the blackbirds there. Lord only knows that there is a fair amount of preening and squawking which goes on as the birds come in to feed on Sunday mornings, and there is the occasional 'chasing out of my pew' that goes along with it, which makes me wonder how Jesus takes it. Does He ever just stand beyond our sight and watch how we treat each other? Has He ever been tempted to take the food away, rather than feed the pretentious bullies?

I think that may have been one of the reasons He told us the story about the sower and the sowing of the seed on the various soils: to remind us that His choice is to continue to put the food out. How we choose to treat each other and grow in the faith as we come to the feeder of His holy Table is our answer as to what kind of soil His words have found in our hearts. Hmmmmmm. It all kind of makes me want to rethink some of the 'traditional' behaviors we practice as 'sacramental', for a whole lot of the exclusionary stuff seems pretty bullying of those who are weaker or different, especially in light of Jesus feeding all of the disciples at His Table.

So, I guess I will continue to feed the blackbirds, hoping all the while the songbirds will be persistent enough to overcome the objections of the blackbirds and share a song or two along the way . . . and I will do it giving thanks to God that Jesus feeds even me. I can't even begin to imagine what He must think of my behavior once in a while, but I am grateful He hasn't picked up His BB gun and took a seat at the window to scare off the interlopers along the way. Something tells me, I might have been one of the first ones shooed away. What about you?

Here's to feeding the blackbirds . . . while giving thanks that, in Christ, God continues to feed us all, even when least we deserve it.

Your servant in Christ,

Pastor Don