Hello,
5 years ago we
built a cedar sided house on top of a wooded hill. It has been a beautiful
place to live. Five years of incredible
sunsets to take rest of the day. Five
years of birds singing in the trees to sparkle the morning. But also five years of lurking danger. For five years the skull jarring pounding of
woodpeckers has echoed through our woods, and we have regularly seen them flying
through the trees and chiseling away at the trees. Small downy ones, mid-size ones, and huge
pileated ones.
What danger do cute
woodpeckers pose? Well, they don’t get
their name for nothing. They peck at
wood, and our house is sided with wood.
When we lived in Sioux Falls we had a wood sided house, and only rarely
did we see woodpeckers around us. But
even though their number was few, they attacked our house. Thumping away at our wood siding, and leaving
great divots in their wake.
Well, last week,
what we have feared for 5 years happened.
We heard the rapid thumping of an aviary bill coming from the back of
our house. We ran out to see the culprit
and the damage it was doing, but before we could get there, it was gone, and
fortunately, we didn’t see any holes in our siding. A couple of days past with no woodpecker
disturbance, but as I was watching TV in our family room, I heard it. Right out the screen door. Sure enough, caught in the act. A medium sized white and black woodpecker
jack-hammering away…..thankfully not on our house….but on a 6x6 treated wood column
supporting the deck above. When I ran
outside, the pesky woodpecker left the scene of the crime, and because I caught
him as he was beginning his vandalism, I could not find evidence of his
pecking.
We had hoped that
the multitude of trees around us, some standing dead with lots of bugs, would
keep the woodpeckers away from our house, and for 5 years they have. I think that the reason for this woodpecker’s
attack was a now unused nest that had been built this spring in the framework
of the deck, attracting bugs….and attracting woodpeckers.
Having fought
this battle before, I knew that placing something moving and shiny on the house
scares woodpeckers away. So, I went and
found some gold and silver ribbon and attached it to the 4 supports for our
deck, removing the nest, of course from its location. Thus far no one has ventured to ask why the
strange decoration on my house, but knowing that it works is worth the
wonderment of others. Something moving
and shiny keeps woodpeckers away.
Jesus said, “I am
the light of the world. No one lights a
lamp and then hides it under a bushel, but instead puts it on the lampstand for
all to see.” What applies to
woodpeckers, Jesus says, also applies to the Christian faith. It is a shiny thing that when it is moving,
it scares some vandals away. The empty lures of the world don’t drill into our
lives. The thumping of greed keeps away
from the contentment of our hearts. The unrelenting
pounding of our failures and sins keeps its distance from us. When Jesus, the light of the world, is moving
in our lives, woodpeckers stay away.
Of course, Jesus
is far more than just a woodpecker deterrent, and there are things like tragedy
and suffering that don’t seem to fear Jesus as “woodpeckers” do. But for this we can be thankful: Jesus has
come into this world…into your life…as the light of the world, and when he is
moving in your life….not hidden under a basket….moving in worship, moving in
acts of love and mercy, moving in prayer and thankfulness…..at least the “woodpeckers”
stay away!
Have a great week.
God’s grace and peace, (ggap)
Pastor Jerry Nuernberger
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