In our backyard I have set up several bird feeders and in the interest of fairness I have also done some things for the four squirrels that frequent our yard. I have for them what is called a Squirrel KOB bungee. Yes, I have a bungee cord for squirrels. You hang it from a tree branch so that it is two to three feet above the ground. At the end you attach a “Big OL’ KOB”. This is a two pound block made up of corn, Black Oil Sunflower Seeds, Peanuts and Gelatin. Squirrels love this stuff. The bungee cord is also something they like or maybe it is just for my entertainment. The idea is that the squirrel jumps up onto the cord and eats from the KOB. Out of the four squirrels in our yard, only one appears to be able to make the leap. He/she stands on the KOB or hangs from it and chews away. Or it bites off pieces and later collects them and buries them for another meal in the future.
Now, I said that we have four squirrels. The other day as I watched them, the squirrel on the KOB had knocked off a few kernels and was sitting on the KOB bobbing up and down eating away. Another, smaller squirrel came by and proceeded to eat some of the corn that had been knocked down by the first squirrel. All of a sudden the one on the KOB, perhaps feeling that its hard work had been wasted or feeling its security threatened, jumped down and chased and assaulted the purloining squirrel.
Now as I thought about it, this is a sort of “fable”. You’ll remember that one definition for a fable is that it is “a tale, especially with animals as characters, conveying a moral”, as in Aesop’s Fables (The Oxford Concise Dictionary) .
The morning I saw this drama playing itself out in my backyard I had been reading the various news agencies’ discussions of the current budget debate and especially, the articles which talked about how upset certain politicians and members of big business and banks were about the idea that some of their wealth should be used for programs helping the poor and elderly.
As I thought about what was happening in my backyard I saw a connection between the way the first squirrel acted and the way we so often act when it comes to sharing. The squirrel evidently thought, that is, if squirrels think about these things, or maybe it is simply instinct, that it and it alone should benefit from all the hard work that went into getting those nuts and corn. When it saw the other squirrel helping itself to the kernels and seeds that had fallen to the ground, it was outraged. They were his! Let the other squirrel get its own food. Yes, yes, the other squirrel couldn’t leap as high and didn’t have the benefit of gorging itself on the KOB, but that was just too bad.
If I could have talked with the first squirrel I would have reminded it that I am the one that purchased the food and provided it for him. I am the one who continues to replace the KOBs when they are gone. His failure to share out his bounty was the height of ingratitude and selfishness.
Now I know that we can’t draw too much from the actions of the squirrel or by trying to get inside its tiny head to know exactly what it was thinking, but I do wonder if the way that we “protect” our stuff and fail to share isn’t a form of ingratitude and selfishness. It is also a reflection of our insecurity because if I share with you, I have less and then where would I be.
Christians are reminded that the earth and all that is in it, belongs to God (Psalm 24); that God is good and that he provides for his creation and that ALL OF US are dependent day by day on the mercy and grace of God and this includes the material things that we have (Psalms 103,104). Jesus reminds us that we are to pray daily for God to provide us with the basic resources we need for life, including our strength to work hard (Matthew 6). The Apostle Paul reminds the Corinthian Christians and all believers that “God is able to provide you with every blessing in abundance, so that by always having enough of everything, you may share abundantly in every good work” (2 Corinthians 9:8). The Book of James, Hebrews and the second and fourth chapter of the Book of Acts remind us that the early followers of Jesus were aware of this and shared out of their substance with those less fortunate, both in and outside the church. They found their security the same place they found their compassion – in God.
But I am afraid that today it is the Donald Trumps of the world who are the models people strive after, even professing Christians, although perhaps without all the bravado. Get what you can and hold on to it. Those who because of health-related issues, discrimination, having been born into and oppressed by dehumanizing social conditions, don’t have enough of this world’s resources are just out of luck. “I got mine, they can get theirs.”
But we forget that all of us, including the Donald Trumps of the world, are in debt to God’s grace whether we acknowledge it or not. And we not only cheat others when we fail to share, but we also spit in the face of God. The parable of the judgment of the nations or the sheep and the goats in Matthew 25 is a reminder that God will judge us on how we respond to the needs of those around us (cf. Isaiah 58:6-8; James 2).
My squirrel still doesn’t share and probably never will. Sometimes, I have to make sure that there are still kernels and seeds and nuts available for the other squirrels who aren’t as fortunate as the bungee-jumping squirrel. And in the same way, I share my material resources with those who share this journey of life with me on this God graced, blessed planet. What about you?
