“Everyone Counts ”For three weeks every year, more than 60,000 volunteers brave the winter weather and head outside to participate in the largest and longest-running wildlife census in the world. These volunteers, or “crowd scientists” as they are known as, join together to be a part of the Audubon Christmas Bird Count that collects data annually, from December 15-January 5. From the Arctic Circle to New Orleans to South America, individuals all around the world join more than 2,000 volunteer groups, or “count circles”, and collect information about the habits, number, and behaviors of local bird species in their specific areas. Since 1900, these “count circles” have been assembling and submitting data to the National Audubon Society that have proven vital to conservation efforts all around the globe. The data that is gathered helps land-use planners avoid disturbing and displacing established breeding grounds; it assists in tracking migratory habits and seasons; the information accumulated alerts scientists and conservationists to declining numbers in certain species, or conversely, population explosions in others. In essence, the assistance that these volunteer “crowd scientists” provide helps save the lives of countless animals throughout the year, and preserves and ensures the continuing existence of countless animals in the future. Whether these “crowd scientists” live in balmy Florida, or on the icy tundra of the Arctic Circle, they share two common beliefs that unite them all: (1) They love birds. And more importantly, (2) They know that individual action matters. If it weren’t for dedicated individuals, there would be no Audubon Christmas Bird Count. For that matter, if it weren’t for dedicated individual contribution, there would be no Audubon Society either. We know that there is strength in numbers; and just what are “numbers”, if not a collection of individuals? The teachings of the first century church started with one individual, Jesus of Nazareth. Realizing the universal truth that there is strength in numbers, Jesus set about recruiting twelve other individuals to assist him, and to learn from him. Those twelve individuals sought out and taught other individuals, who, in turn, did the same. That type of individual action has sustained and enriched the church until this very day, 2000 years later. Sometimes we like to dismiss the importance of individual action. I think we do this because it absolves us of responsibility; it allows us to justify and make excuses for our own inaction: after all, little ol’ me couldn’t possibly make a difference, so why bother? When we take the time to bother, we can shake the world if enough of us care to. The greatest victories of this world all turned on small deeds, on seemingly insignificant individual contributions, don’t be fooled. The mightiest of
trees can be felled with the smallest of axes; the largest of creatures
can be conquered by one of the smallest: the germ. “And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” [Matthew 28: 18-20] If we were to take a cue from the National Audubon Society, and do an annual “Christian count”, what numbers do you think we would see here in Penngrove? Increasing? Declining? Stagnant? Are we putting forth the kind of individual effort that can affect the number of Christians we see around us? If we aren’t, we should be; and if we are trying to talk ourselves out of active participation in Christ’s Kingdom by convincing ourselves that our own single contribution doesn’t really matter, then let’s use this thought to encourage us: imagine what the world would be like today if Jesus of Nazareth, just one single individual, had never been born. — Paul Seely, January 8, 2012 |