groundhog's day

Yesterday happened to be Groundhog Day. Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania claims to be the home of the original groundhog and even gave it a name -- Punxsutawney Phil.

Every year the locals dress up in old-fashioned costumes and wait for Phil. We’re not quite sure how many “Phil’s” there actually are since groundhogs tend to look alike. But the locals have a good time nonetheless.

While doing some research into Groundhog Day, I came across a few lesser-known groundhogs:

Wiarton Willie of Wiarton, Ontario

Staten Island Chuck of in New York City, New York

Sir Walter Wally of Raleigh, North Carolina

Jimmy the Groundhog of Sun Prairie, Wisconsin

The last one sounds like a member of the groundhog mafia or possibly a retired sportscaster.

On the one hand, it’s kind of quaint that the men of Punxsutawney dress up in top hats and gather in a field at 4:30 in the morning to await Phil’s arrival. Six weeks of weather hangs in the balance.

It’s quite another matter to make life decisions based upon the behavior of a groundhog.

For several years I have been fascinated by how people go about making decisions. I’ve known coupon clippers who would drive to two or three different grocery stores to save fifty cents here and a dollar there. Some of these same people would turn right around and buy a $1,000 television without doing any comparison shopping whatsoever.

Retailers love impulse shoppers. In fact, there is a quite a bit of psychology that influences how a store is designed and where products are placed -- all in an effort to influence buying habits. Trust me, they’re not concerned with how to save you money.

How do we as Christ-followers make decisions? Several years ago, Pastor Bill Hybels wrote a book entitled, “Too Busy Not to Pray.” He was reacting to people who say, “I’m just too busy to pray.” The truth is, the busier you are, the more you need to pray!