Well the lad came to me.. "MOM! What do you think will happen if I shoot the gun around the birds?"
"Oh.. they'll fly off I should think" was my response. Then we talked about boom guns and how farmers use them to keep birds off their crops.
"Well I want to try".
So he shoots his gun..... everything leaves except for one white squirrel (which we already know are dumber than stumps) and the mourning doves. They just sit there. The lad shoots and shoots and the white squirrel eventually decides there's a threat and he should leave, but the mourning doves stay.
"WHY MOM? Why do they just stay there mom?"
So we do some research and learn that mourning doves are either not very bright OR they are just too lazy to bother. They often don't bother making a nest (using old nests from other birds), or if they do, it's the bare minimum (resulting in a fairly high mortality rate in their offspring). They often don't go to the food source (the bird feeder) but eat the leavings of the other birds (what falls to the ground). They are easily turned into food by a variety of animals... and yet...they manage to survive. It's odd.
Makes me wonder how we are Christians are often like mourning doves. We have the ability to do well in life, to accomplish much with the aid of our Saviour, yet often we don't take advantage of all that is offered to us.
Just as the mourning doves are often content to take the leavings of other birds (as they eat out of the feeder) so to we often don't really go to the source... The Bible, God's Word. We don't really utilize the bounty and provision of God.
Let's not be like mourning doves....neither dumb or complacent. :)