The Bird and the Squirrel .
Yesterday in my video message I shared a story of a man who loved putting out his bird feeder in the fall so that he could feed and watch the tranquil beauty of the birds. One day he witnessed some squirrels eating his bird feed. He became infuriated that those slimy tree rats would ruin his peaceful time of watching the beautiful birds stop for nourishment. He became so fixated on the squirrels that he lost sight of why he even built the bird feeder. Has that ever happened to you?
It is interesting how often we start something with the intent of it being relaxing and stress free only to allow outside influences to change our feelings and dampen our enthusiasm. In the story above, the birds never stopped coming for feed but the gentleman lost sight of that because his focus shifted to the negative. That reminds me of a quote I use frequently that says "God never stopped being good, we just stopped being grateful". Our minds are trained to seek out the bad and to forsake the good. I wonder just how amazing we could all be if we trained our minds to see only the good in everything.
The most powerful weapon on earth is the human soul on fire. If that statement is true, and I believe it is, consider why we allow our flame to be doused by negative information that may not even be true or relevant to our lives. The news media has a unique way of influencing our thoughts on certain topics. Whether it be racism, politics, religion, crime, or other hate debates they have that stirs motivation for making you think and believe a certain way. For the record I do believe there are issues that certainly need a champion, there are platforms that need attention, however we can't allow our minds to constantly be focused on the bad because if we do we lose sight of the majestic beauty of the birds feeding. Trust me there is more good in the world than bad we just lose sight of it when our focus moves toward the bad.
A couple days ago I shared some light debate with a pastor friend. He seems to enjoy my out of the universe view of faith, spirituality, and religion. For weeks we have been discussing the tremendous decrease in Christian church attendance. This particular morning he asked me a specific question as to why people switch churches so often. I would like to complete this blog by answering that question and using the analogy of the bird and the squirrel.
There was a time in Christian history to where the focus was on loving people, taking care of the poor and sick, sharing what you had with family and friends, etc. Then as generations past more rules came into play and religious affiliations began to take shape. People's heritage almost forced them to belong to certain churches. It was like a faith inheritance to have your religiosity handed down. No longer were people seeking the beauty in their faith they were simply being robotic and doing what was expected of them. As Christian churches begin to pop up on every street corner, they also filled the Sunday morning media landscape via radio, TV, and internet. The options were endless, confusing, and downright mind boggling. The heritage that was once part of who we were was lost in the shuffle of all the choices that were presented before us. You may think that what I just said is bad but the net result I believe will be good. I say that because I love the new generation of Christians that are bucking the norm and returning to faith that is based on love.
How did the Christian movement get so watered down to the point that every church was fighting for memberships. Even though the messages were similar the ulterior motive was clear. We need more people in the pews and filling the coffers. You recall Jesus being angry at the money changers, I wonder how he feels about what is going on now. We mask money changing with huge exotic buildings that attract the masses. It also gets mask by all the amenities that people seek out in churches now. Jesus said "stop making my Father's house a market place", yet that is exactly what we have done, but no one wants to admit it. The money changers then were set up outside the church, today they are set up inside the church. The music has to be a certain way, the preacher has to have the right message, the people have to act and dress according to popular opinion. Granted I am embellishing this somewhat but I am trying to make a point. What started out as beautiful bird feeder attracting hungry birds has turned into a bitter war against the tree rat squirrels. It is as if churches truly do have the Country Club mentality and saving souls is mere second thought to the big picture which is getting people in the door.
Sharing all this with my preacher friend, he rebutted with one more question, he asked me, in my opinion is there an answer? Simply put yes I answered, I went on to tell him this. What do you think would happen if we not only saw the beauty of the birds but we also saw the beauty of the squirrels. What if we realized that both the birds and the squirrels needed feeding. What if we could accept God's people without trying to figure out why we were all created different. What if the squirrels were not tree rats at all and maybe they were a wonderful part of God's plan that if we opened our eyes were just as majestic as the birds we sought out to feed.
The preachers eyes were opened and I could see the sadness. He shared this brief summation with me. He said, you know I suppose looking back and looking around we have lost sight of what the original Christian movement was about. The art of taking care of the needed and being a hospital for sinners has become lost to the fine art of attracting money and people so as to further grow the amenities that generate competition between congregations.
I could tell that the situation seemed hopeless because Sunday he will be back at his own church trying to compete for space in the minds of their busy lives. As we parted I thought more about the birds and the squirrels and I smiled as I realized that for once in my life I could see the beauty and the need to feed them all. If our focus shifted from exploiting our differences to loving our similarities I truly believe that we could change the world. Thank goodness we are witnessing a generation of people that will no longer adhere to the tried and true failures that have plagued Christianity for years. For once I see beauty and hope on the horizon and I am convinced like never before that we are in the beginning stages of a faith renaissance like the world has never seen. If the most powerful weapon on earth is the human soul on fire, LOOK OUT, because the best is yet to come.
peace be with you all
Dale
It is interesting how often we start something with the intent of it being relaxing and stress free only to allow outside influences to change our feelings and dampen our enthusiasm. In the story above, the birds never stopped coming for feed but the gentleman lost sight of that because his focus shifted to the negative. That reminds me of a quote I use frequently that says "God never stopped being good, we just stopped being grateful". Our minds are trained to seek out the bad and to forsake the good. I wonder just how amazing we could all be if we trained our minds to see only the good in everything.
The most powerful weapon on earth is the human soul on fire. If that statement is true, and I believe it is, consider why we allow our flame to be doused by negative information that may not even be true or relevant to our lives. The news media has a unique way of influencing our thoughts on certain topics. Whether it be racism, politics, religion, crime, or other hate debates they have that stirs motivation for making you think and believe a certain way. For the record I do believe there are issues that certainly need a champion, there are platforms that need attention, however we can't allow our minds to constantly be focused on the bad because if we do we lose sight of the majestic beauty of the birds feeding. Trust me there is more good in the world than bad we just lose sight of it when our focus moves toward the bad.
A couple days ago I shared some light debate with a pastor friend. He seems to enjoy my out of the universe view of faith, spirituality, and religion. For weeks we have been discussing the tremendous decrease in Christian church attendance. This particular morning he asked me a specific question as to why people switch churches so often. I would like to complete this blog by answering that question and using the analogy of the bird and the squirrel.
There was a time in Christian history to where the focus was on loving people, taking care of the poor and sick, sharing what you had with family and friends, etc. Then as generations past more rules came into play and religious affiliations began to take shape. People's heritage almost forced them to belong to certain churches. It was like a faith inheritance to have your religiosity handed down. No longer were people seeking the beauty in their faith they were simply being robotic and doing what was expected of them. As Christian churches begin to pop up on every street corner, they also filled the Sunday morning media landscape via radio, TV, and internet. The options were endless, confusing, and downright mind boggling. The heritage that was once part of who we were was lost in the shuffle of all the choices that were presented before us. You may think that what I just said is bad but the net result I believe will be good. I say that because I love the new generation of Christians that are bucking the norm and returning to faith that is based on love.
How did the Christian movement get so watered down to the point that every church was fighting for memberships. Even though the messages were similar the ulterior motive was clear. We need more people in the pews and filling the coffers. You recall Jesus being angry at the money changers, I wonder how he feels about what is going on now. We mask money changing with huge exotic buildings that attract the masses. It also gets mask by all the amenities that people seek out in churches now. Jesus said "stop making my Father's house a market place", yet that is exactly what we have done, but no one wants to admit it. The money changers then were set up outside the church, today they are set up inside the church. The music has to be a certain way, the preacher has to have the right message, the people have to act and dress according to popular opinion. Granted I am embellishing this somewhat but I am trying to make a point. What started out as beautiful bird feeder attracting hungry birds has turned into a bitter war against the tree rat squirrels. It is as if churches truly do have the Country Club mentality and saving souls is mere second thought to the big picture which is getting people in the door.
Sharing all this with my preacher friend, he rebutted with one more question, he asked me, in my opinion is there an answer? Simply put yes I answered, I went on to tell him this. What do you think would happen if we not only saw the beauty of the birds but we also saw the beauty of the squirrels. What if we realized that both the birds and the squirrels needed feeding. What if we could accept God's people without trying to figure out why we were all created different. What if the squirrels were not tree rats at all and maybe they were a wonderful part of God's plan that if we opened our eyes were just as majestic as the birds we sought out to feed.
The preachers eyes were opened and I could see the sadness. He shared this brief summation with me. He said, you know I suppose looking back and looking around we have lost sight of what the original Christian movement was about. The art of taking care of the needed and being a hospital for sinners has become lost to the fine art of attracting money and people so as to further grow the amenities that generate competition between congregations.
I could tell that the situation seemed hopeless because Sunday he will be back at his own church trying to compete for space in the minds of their busy lives. As we parted I thought more about the birds and the squirrels and I smiled as I realized that for once in my life I could see the beauty and the need to feed them all. If our focus shifted from exploiting our differences to loving our similarities I truly believe that we could change the world. Thank goodness we are witnessing a generation of people that will no longer adhere to the tried and true failures that have plagued Christianity for years. For once I see beauty and hope on the horizon and I am convinced like never before that we are in the beginning stages of a faith renaissance like the world has never seen. If the most powerful weapon on earth is the human soul on fire, LOOK OUT, because the best is yet to come.
peace be with you all
Dale
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