Foolish Peanuts

I mean no offense but I think Seagulls are foolish. 

A favourite part of my time away is making friends with shy woodland creatures.  Most stay a respectable distance away, but grace me with their cautious presence in and by the water.   

Two cottage critters,  however, join me regularly on the deck.   One is the chipmunks. 

Skeptical at first, my tiny striped companions soon lose their fear in favour of the peanuts I offer.  And while I am careful, it doesn't take long for them to trust me enough to gently take a treat from my hand, or even my lap. 

This requires lots of time, sitting quietly with peanuts available by my feet.  

Enter the foolish Seagulls.  

Bold and skittish at the same time,  they noisily flap their landing on the deck railing not two feet from me.  They eye the peanuts with no attempt to hide their intentions.  And if I turn my head for a second, they're in for the grab.  

Clearly they are terrified of me.  I need only to lift my head or move my hand to pick up my tea and they make hasty retreat to a safer distance.   But they want that peanut, oh so very much, and will mindlessly, recklessly do the daring dance over and over.

Which brings me to their foolishness. 

Out in front of me is a wide bay full of delicious and nutritious things for a seagull to eat.  No nasty human is guarding those things.   A peanut, on the other hand.  Is that even safe for a seagull to swallow?  I'm no bird biologist or anything but wouldn't that be really awful to pass if you were a bird? Maybe they have a specialized gullet to handle this sort of thing, but I have seen them struggling to swallow a peanut whole.  You can even see it going down.  Ow.

But here they are, literally risking their lives for just one snatch of something that clearly looks yummy but is only going to result in pain. 

And I reflect on the foolishness of Seagulls and disturbingly see something of myself. 

I am aftterall human, and humanity has a foolish way of ignoring all the abundance of God's good provision and risking everything  to grab something that looks good but will ultimately cause great pain. 

Of course substances come to mind first;  the kinds of things we injest to make us feel good for the moment but with devastating consequences. And let's include too much sugar or caffeine while we're at it. If I were a super hero, ice caps would be my kryptonite. 

But there are other peanuts. 

The way we continually eyeball the past hurts in our lives instead of feasting on the sunset of life's joys that we would easily see if we just lifted our heads.   I have caught myself, while journaling down at the dock after supper, doing just that. 

The way we fix our sights on success and gain, completely missing the abundant life-waters of family and friends.  Being away from all that I am tempted to attach my value to makes me realize how much I need my peeps. 

The way life's worries have our beady-eyed attention, while a great blue heron of grace and strength glides by.  Left unchecked, I would be a world class worrier, oh I so would. 

So I will try not to be too hard on the Seagulls, as annoying as they might be.   Rather, I might thank them for their reminder, and consider this more.

"LORD see if there be some foolish way in me, and lead me in the way  everlasting. " Psalm 139:24

And this is why I sit outside so much. 

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