Bird Feeders

When Jesus also had been baptized and was praying … the Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form like a dove. – Luke 3:22 (NRSV) 

Overall, I am in favor of bird feeders. Most mornings I have a cup of coffee with my beloved, and—when we don’t discuss arrangements or 800 numbers or who forgot to turn the light off, the dinner menu, or something else beaming with triviality and regularity and intimacy—we say, “Look.”  

Sometimes I will watch my beloved fill up the bird feeder from the giant bag of seed we keep in the garage, and I’ll tear up. How much am I the birds’ twin? So, I am feeder favorable.  

Then again. 

Why can’t the birds work for their food? $19.99 a bag at the Dollar Store is a lot. Am I hurting their ambition and creating dependency?  

My selfish work ethic joins anthropomorphic guilt. What do the birds get besides a seed? Do they know I am watching them? What about their privacy? Were they put on the planet to be fed? Or “watched?” Was I? Would they feed or watch me?   

And then I hear my beloved laugh or see him smile and think how inexpensive this joy is. How Pentecost it is. It is a dove that signals the Spirit has arrived, in Jesus’ baptism and then again on Pentecost. 

The world faces larger ethical problems than the popularity of bird feeders. But for a minute, may I say that I rarely feed the Holy Spirit Bird. What would happen if I fed the Spirit more than the sparrows? Regular joy, that’s what would happen.  

Prayer
Thank you, God, for well-fed birds, especially Doves. Amen.

About the Author
Donna Schaper is an interim Pastor at the United Church of Gainesville, Florida, and author, most recently of Remove the Pews—first from your theology, then from your building.