Ranger Bob went outside and saw birds feeding on the tops of the garbage barrels. We have Blue Jays, Cardinals, Goldfinches, Starlings, Grackles, and Doves. Squirrels will jump up and land on or near a bird, scaring it away. A Jay kept jumping up and screaming at one feeding squirrel. He didn't care.
Turning over the soil when planting or weeding will excite the interest of birds, who know fresh food will be wiggling and squirming near the top. I had an ultra-compost spot at our Midland parsonage, overseen by a flock of birds. As soon as I began working on that area, they all began to chatter and make happy sounds, like fans waiting to get into the rally or the World Series.
The reason was that the compost ingredients were welcomed by a mass of earthworms, because I was testing how much they could grow in numbers in that location. The birds knew that my labor would provide a feast of fresh worms in softly stirred soil. Sometimes people left the kitchen door, spooking all the birds into flight - lots of noise. "Why didn't you warn me?"
Similar things happen when the faithful stir up the classics of the past. When they are suddenly visible again - though they were always present, if hard to find - people begin talking about them. One reader said, "I would never know about Loy, Reu, Jacobs, and Schmauk except for you writing about them."
Likewise, we would not have instant access to them without the Lutheran Librarian making them public in print and in ebooks.
Lutheran Library Publishing Ministry
Lutheran Librarian Print Books
God creatures expand according to the food, water, and shelter available. When soil creatures are encouraged with organic matter and deep roots, plants increase and so do birds and bunnies.
Ranger Bob mocked my "backyard jungle," but it is a food jungle for birds. The corn patch is solid with Blackberry canes, The other patch has Butterfly Bush, Poke Weed, and Chaste Tree.
The tool shed is overshadowed by a giant Elderberry bush on each side. Some Raspberries grow and so do Beauty Berries for the late fall.
Too many congregations want the results, not the cause. The cause is an abundance of the Means of Grace - the Word and Sacraments.
Planting roses is easy. The results come from fertile soil and beneficial insects. Light work after is mulching with fertility products like Peat Humus and shredded wood.
Sermons are tough for ministers who do not study the Word. They realize they are trying to grow in dry sandbox, so they steal from others. Those sermons are like flowers delivered by mail on a Phoenix summer day - dried out and wilted. Reading another's sermon is as thrilling as reciting the phone book. No wonder live online services caused universal clergy panic.
