Don't Feed The Geese

This past weekend, I was chatting with a friend of mine from Nepal. He is single and is looking for a Godly wife for himself. He asked me if I was concerned about getting married. I told him that I wasn't really too concerned and that if God's plan for me is to be single, I am content with it. He then told me that living is not that easy in Nepal and it's always good for them to be married because they will take care of each other as they grow older. He said that it's not the same here because we have the government to take care of us as we age. (Ouch!)

Fast forward to today as I was leaving, and I again noticed the signs by the small pond at work. They read "Please do not feed the geese". A gaggle of Canada Geese (Branta canadensis) make their home there and feel free to use it as they please. If the people there started feeding them, they would soon become more and more of a nuisance. They would start depending on the humans for more and more of the livelihood and really make a mess of things. We have to play Goose-Poop-Hopscotch enough now! Just think of Rock Pigeons (Columba livia) in a park or sheep in a pasture. If it weren't for the park visitors or the shepherd, they would not be as plump as they are.

As I left work today, I combined these two threads and thought about our own country. Are we feeding the geese? I believe we are. Everyone seems to want a handout from the government. No one wants to give up what is "rightfully" theirs because they "worked hard" to put that away. But did they really? Is it really wise to let a government use your money in such a manner? Perhaps if we as a nation learned to feed ourselves and ignore the temptation to accept free handouts that in the long run hurt more than they help, we would see a great change in the way this country handles itself. Yes, there are poor among us, but if we took care of them as a nation without governmental help, they, and we, would be the better for it.

Feeding the geese does not help the geese or the feeder. All it ends up doing is creating more poop. And believe me, we certainly don't need anymore of that!