Shall Be Made Fat

I enjoyed bacon and peas for lunch the day following the recent snows. The latter’s water went on the potted plants, and the former’s fat was dripped into a little cup to which I added oats and mixed them round until each was covered in the brown, hot liquid. I then scooped it outdoors on a place the birds know well, and watched them feast. On a cold day, fatty oats do feathered creatures a world of good. Although it looks unappealing to us, the robins, blackbirds, starlings and dunnocks ate merrily.

Gross, physical obesity is not generally a symptom of being jovial, jolly and generous, but of simply being out of control. The unregulated input down the throat is often reflected by an equally ill-regulated output of words from the mouth. Yet King Solomon, in Proverbs 28:25, observed:

He that is of a proud heart stirreth up strife: but he that putteth his trust in the Lord shall be made fat.

Those who control their appetites, resist their lusts and carefully manage their words shall one day enjoy the Lord’s plenitude and abundance. Those who fatten themselves on indolence, arrogance and boastfulness shall find a sparse and barren eternity.

Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they? Matthew 6:26

A. D.