CATS, CATS, AND MORE CATS

To be perfectly honest, I have never cared much for cats. Especially those that are indoors. Maybe part of that feeling stems from my childhood. My mom never liked cats. Oh, we had cats at home. But they always stayed outside, and lived off their own ability to catch mice. I remember several times when mom started to open the back screen door and a cat was laying against it, she would force it open and then kick the cat with the toe of her shoe, and the cat would land about 50 feet away in the back yard. Such was a cat's life at the Edwards household.

But By The Way I have come to think differently about the cat. One of our neighbors in a downstairs appartment has a heart for "God's little creatures." That is what she calls the cats. They are not really her cats, but just cats that have come by. She started leaving a little food out for them. At first there were two, and now at last count there are five. She said to me the other day, "I just don't understand why they want to come around. All I did was put out a little food." I thought "Well, Duh!" Although I did not say it out loud.

And then it hit me. Cats are smarter than I ever thought they were. And they have a lot to admire. 1) They know to come to the nourishment. 2) They must somehow be able to tell other cats where to come to get nouishment. 3) These cats seem to get along with each other very well. 4) They never fight over the scraps. 5) They seem to be very content, eventhough they have to stay outside. 6) It takes very little to keep them content. 7) And finally, they know how to multiply.

There is a lesson here for the average Christian and for the average church. 1) Unlike the cat, we often get fussy if the spiritual nourishment we are receiving dosn't taste just right or is not served in the right container. 2) We are often lacking when it comes to telling others where to get some spiritual nourishment. 3) We too often have problems getting along with one another. 4) We sometimes fuss and fight over the smallest details. 5) We often express more complaints than contentment. 6) We like our "stuff," and often feel insecure if not surrounded by the trappings of our religion rather than the real heart of our faith. What I mean by trappings are the physical things we associate with our faith. Things like buildings, padded pews, air conditioning, bulletins, certain styles of music, traditions we have grown up with etc. 7) And finally we are content to add occasionally, when the Bible tells us to multiply.

I will never look at cats in the same way.

Happy fur balls to ya!