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.

Black Fri-dolatry

Wild mobs angrily rioting outside an under-guarded store with goods in short supply. Glass shatters, people are hurt, a terrified employee is trampled to death.

A mob riot after a natural disaster? A championship celebration turned ugly? A third world country? A burned-out urban core? No, this didn’t happen somewhere way different than where we live. This wasn’t a gang-related thuggery, frat-boy hooliganism, or the desperation of starving people. No, it happened last week at a well-kept Wal-Mart in an upper-middle-class town with household median incomes 60% higher than ours here in Lenexa.

Approximately 2,000 early-morning, post-Thanksgiving “Black Friday” customers had been waiting in line at a Valley Stream, NY WalMart for ‘Door-Crasher’ deals on a small number of flat-screen TV’s, and all of them knew there were ‘limited supplies on hand.’ And like mobs often do, they got out of control, and swarmed the doors of the store, dying to get their hands on the sale-priced electronics, and killing a terrified part-time worker in their frenzied lust.

I’ve been in big scary crowds before—at rock concerts, football games, and rallies (and yes, occasionally, a store or ticket-sale line-up!) A mob is like a fire, exciting to see, useful if channeled, but fatal when it gets out of control. Like spiritual power, groups of people can be God-led and blessed, or demon-led and cursed.

I’m amazed that Wal-Mart management and its ad agency could be so ignorant of the demonic power of a fired-up mob (especially when the inane proportions of shoppers to on-sale items is so gleefully advertized). I don’t think the people who stepped on the 270-lb young man were literally possessed of the devil. But there is real evil in the world, even when its just stupid evil and not heinous evil. Both WalMart and the shoppers outside apparently don't know Satan doesn’t just use occultish teenagers or deranged loners with guns to do his evil work, but rather he uses ordinary people like you & me, when we selfishly take leave of our senses for the sake of a cool toy or a better deal. Bottom-line-worried store managers were naïve enough not to call police when they saw the crowds, and the crimped-budget bargain-hound shoppers were selfish enough to care more about their shopping list than their fellow man.

No, idolatry isn’t just bowing and praying to stone idols. It’s a passion for acquiring goods and experiences that’s more intense than the passion for following and serving the true God—which ironically, would be the most high-definition, surround-sound, transformational lifestyle anyone could imagine!

So, is it bad to work hard to save money for Christmas? Of course not. But it is folly—and maybe demonic— to mistake the ‘mass' (worship) of the newborn Christ for the mass-market worship of shopping and toys. The murdered Walmart worker’s family is already suing the company. But the Lord’s anger at our selfish and now murderous greed will not be extinguished with money-- but only repentence, and change of life. Lord, have mercy! - Pastor Dan

Hosea 10:1 How prosperous Israel is—a luxuriant vine loaded with fruit! But the more wealth the people got, the more they poured it on the altars of their foreign gods. The richer the harvests they brought in, the more beautiful the statues and idols they built. 2 The hearts of the people are fickle; they are guilty and must be punished. The LORD will break down their foreign altars and smash their many idols.