A Little Bird Told Me

A little bird told me. You’ve probably heard this familiar saying. It comes from the Bible, Ecclesiastes 10:20 to be exact. The full version is:

Do not revile the king even in your thoughts, or curse the rich in your bedroom, because a bird of the air may carry your words, and a bird on the wing may report what you say.

I don’t know about you, but I receive a near continuous barrage of hateful, paranoid and fear-raising emails brimming with rumor and speculation.

Virtually all of these, and certainly the most vicious (and preposterous) are sent to me by people who call themselves Christians.

Among many other scriptures they have ignored or violated are “hate every false way” (Psalm 119:109) and, of course, “I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone— for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior…” (1 Timothy 2:1-3).

And of course, Philippians 4:8: “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.”

Our words define us – and literally “express” who we are. We have the choice to bless or curse:

“This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live” (Deuteronomy 30:19).

And don’t you think we should “provoke one another to love” (Hebrews 10:24) instead of provoking paranoid fantasies?

Or even worse.

You may have heard of the movement to “Pray for Obama” with Psalm 109:8 prominently displayed. It is all over the media, but you can see a sample here.

It is hard to imagine anything more cynical or a more fully perverted sense of the message and power of the Gospel.

One of the aspects I love about the Bible is its unvarnished (and sometimes gruesome) insights into the frailities, absurdities and contradictions of humanity. Our propensity to hatred and self-destructiveness is the stuff of history – and, of course, the Bible.

Consider these words from C.S. Lewis :

In some of the Psalms the spirit of hatred which strikes us in the face is like the heat from a furnace mouth. In others the same spirit ceases to be frightful only by becoming (to a modern mind) almost comic in its naivety. Examples can be found all over the Psalter, but perhaps the worst is in 109.
- Reflections on the Psalms, p. 20

This call to pray for Obama in light of Psalm 109 is perhaps only the most recent (and vicious) of these rumors and personal attacks, but we’ve all seen similar and more surreal emails about Barack Obama, UFOs, the ACLU and the continuing antics of Madalyn Murray O’Hair (even though she’s been dead since 1995).

You can tell how true these are by the humility of the anonymous author, and of course, the urgency of the message makes any pesky documentation or dating superfluous.And to emphasize the importance, it must be posted in ALL CAPS.

You also have to love these missives for their passion and their gleeful and preposterous disregard for reality. Could anyone really believe that the ACLU could control the US military? Or that (dead) Madalyn Murray O’Hair could change broadcasting laws across America? Or that various politicians and celebrities have been abducted/trained/programmed by UFOs?

I get these passion-filled surreal emails on a semi-regular basis. Some people send them to me (I think) because they know I will appreciate the absurdist irony, but others, I fear, actually think there is some worthy content there and I should be eager and honored to pass them on.

The ultimate irony is that most, if not all, the bizarre, paranoid and irrational email I receive are sent to me by people I generally consider rational, intelligent and, even more ironically, faithful Christians.

At the risk of sounding like a New Age/Testament prophet, I urge everyone who calls themselves a follower of Christ, to put it simply and directly, “Be the blessing.”

In fact, to paraphrase Ghandi, “Be the blessing you want to see.”

You have the time. You have the money. You have God’s permission – in fact His calling – to step out of the cesspool of talk/shock/shout radio and into the enduring light and truth of Grace.

If you must pass on some rumors regarding President Obama, here are some worth passing on.

Barack Obama wears a FLAG PIN at all times. Even in the shower.

Barack Obama has the DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE tattooed on his stomach. It’s upside-down, so he can read it while doing sit-ups.

And these must be true.  I found them on the internets.