No crowd at the feeder

I admit it: I'm an eco-poser. I do a little for the environment, but not too much. I want the natural world that God created for our benefit & enjoyment to stay as healthy and vibrant as possible, but not if it costs me too much. I do my part: I plant lots of trees, I've started a rain garden to help the streamways stay clean, and I bought a more efficient car last year. We recycle thoroughly; not just plastics and paper at the curbside pickup, but the kids and I even drive our glass to "Mt Deffenbaugh" for recycling once a month. Most of our bulbs are flourescent, and there's insulation everywhere. We hike the national parks, don't use plastic water bottles, and every so often donate to Sierra Club. So, in a very low-commitment, mainstream sort of way, I guess we're greenish.

But feeding the birds? We're not so faithful at that. When we first moved in to our new neighborhood, I used to buy bird feed, thinking there weren't enough plants to have fruit or insects for birds to eat. But now that the trees are over 15' tall, in my free-market sort of way, I figured that the birds could fend for themselves--and I could save some money-- by just filling the feeder when winter hit. In fact, I bought a high-end (pricier!) mixture a couple weeks ago to use to welcome back the birds to the feeder this winter. I filled it up and looked forward to all my feathered homeys coming round to say hi real soon (I can see the feeder from the kitchen window, so granted, I only look when I'm refilling the water glass or loading the dishwasher, but I look out every time!)

Funny thing, though-- the birds haven't come back. I guess since I haven't been a friend in fair weather, they're not coming back to visit in cold weather. Since I didn't make any extra effort to woo them when the backyard was blooming and growing, now when there's nothing out back to look at, they're not rushing back to fill in the gap.

It's a living lesson of Cats in the Cradle, we reap what we sow, etc. But it's also an object lesson for my faith walk, too: If I don't invest in my relationship with God in the good times, it's going to be harder to sense His presence in the hard times. And so this Christmas, while my full birdfeeder hangs unvisited outside, I'm going to try my best to let the Christ child be the center of my Christmas--not the parties, plays, presents, or other productions. Our family's going to set a space for Jesus now, so He'll know there's space for Him in the nest later. May the critical mass of your Christmas be Christ, too.