TGIF
I’ll summarize the email.
A reader wanted me to know that she didn’t read any stories about Smokey, because Smokey is “ugly”.
He’s a “trash cat” that should have been taken to the shelter…he’s a “nuisance” animal that “we have far too many of”.
I wanted to send her a brief reply…two words, the last being “you” the first not being “bless”.
I chose to be a good Anglican and respond here instead.
As they say, one person’s trash is another person’s treasure and I treasure my “ugly” cat.
He is old and scarred and he always seems to have some wound draining pus all over something I’ll have to wash.
He’s missing teeth.
He drools when I pet him and cat drool makes me itch.
He also loves me very, very much.
Love makes him a beautiful creature indeed.
He loves me so much that he actually tries to change behaviors that he knows cause problems…he tries really hard to be a good cat, even if he sometimes messes up.
Did I mention that he loves me very, very much?
That makes everything else irrelevant.
God doesn’t make trash.
He most certainly does not consider any pet or person trash.
He even loves people whose hearts are so small and spirits so shrunken that they would take the time to write cruel things about another person’s treasure.
I spent a lot of my life hearing some of those same labels that this person tried to put on my cat.
God told me they were lies.
Neither Smokey nor myself are ugly to our Masters.
We are not a nuisance.
We shouldn’t be put away.
We are treasures.
We love Him because He first loved us…
There are a lot of labels floating around these days.
Only choose to wear one that God agrees with.
You’re a treasure.
In His love, you’re a beautiful creature, indeed.
Even if you drool…
Make your own application…
Over many years and cats, without a doubt the best and most loving ones are those who adopted our house.
Yes the ones my wife and I picked out were nice and raising them from kittens was a joy, but those strays who decided our home would become theirs were the best.
Very well said Michael.
One of our two beagles, Andy, has severe separation anxiety. We were aware of it when we adopted him. Doesn’t matter if we are gone for 10 minutes or 4 hours, he is hysterical when we come home. Takes him a while to calm down. He also starts to shake and whine quite a bit when there are certain “beep” sounds in the house, like when one of our smoke alarms started beeping last night. Again, it takes a while for him to calm down. He’s probably about 10 years old now (unknown age because he was a stray when he was brought into a shelter). My guess is that over 80% of people who love dogs may not able able to handle Andy.
I love him to death.
I fell in love with him when I first met him and he tried to jump up to me.
He is my Little Buddy and I dread the day I will have to say goodbye to him.
Andy is not trash or junk and I can’t imagine life without him.
I fully understand you Michael.
Dan,
That was beautiful…thank you.
MM,
I concur…
Trash cat? That person’s declaration was made from an ugly desire to hurt you, Michael. I pray God educate or compensate accordingly. Yes, i am a strong supporter of spay and neuter if you are not an animal breeder with a purpose, but once here we are tasked by God to care for critters- period.
Old person remembering follows…
My grandmother’s father bred horses and blooded mules for our army (100 years ago). His daughter married a preacher man. Her neighbor out there on the prairie had dug a deep hole for some reason and his plow horse fell in. The guy went down into the hole and beat the horse mercilessly. Its screams were heard by all. Well… .
This neighbor and his wife decided to stop by the preacher’s house “for a visit.” After digging/ harvesting a large batch of root vegetables close to suppertime. Without asking grandmother they spread the dirty mess on her kitchen table while they “chatted.” No, they weren’t sorting to donate…..
In walked grandmother’s father, stopping by after hunting. He carried his properly broken open shotgun over his arm. Yes he knew about the horse beating.
There was the ominous snap of the locked and loaded shotgun. Her father trained it on the horse beater, ordered them to clean up the mess and get out of his daughter’s kitchen. He then escorted them to the door and “bid them goodbye.” Pioneers? Don’t mess with them, it wasn’t white privilege that built this nation. Think brains and grit…. and integrity for the most part
I’m sure grandpa, the pacifist preacher, was mortified when he heard, but my grandmother of Dutch, Welch and Jewish ancestry told the story with a twinkle in her eye.
Sorry – got carried away and Michael you handled your confrontation with more grace than my great grandfather. 🙆
God keep
That’s just messed up, Michael… and unfortunately, my response probably would have been the one you avoided using…. Besides, I think Smokey’s got character 🙂
I hope the person who wrote those things doesn’t have children. I was a child about whom such things were said. No child (or pet) deserves that.
Owen,
Those were my thoughts as well…
Em,
I have much more in common with your great grandfather than I let on… 🙂
“I wanted to send her a brief reply…two words, the last being “you” the first not being “bless”.
I chose to be a good Anglican and respond here instead.”
LMAO!!!!!!
Beautiful thoughts and sentiments, Michael!
I think it was Malcolm Muggeridge, when he came into the RCC, there were a number of folks with mental and physical disabilities there. He apparently wanted them there. He said they show outwardly the sin and brokenness that we all have inwardly, in our souls.
So here’s to your cat! Sounds like a strong blessing!
The emailing reader needs to find productive work or perhaps a hobby that doesn’t involve hatemail. You and those you love are not worthy of hate from those who have nothing going on in their lives. I should be empathetic towards the emailing reader, but I’m not feeling it right now.
I’m a golden retriever guy who likes cats less than they like me, and even I can see the beauty your pal Smokey.
Thank you. This is beautiful. May I have permission to post this on my Facebook page (of course, with proper attribution)?
Donner,
Of course…thank you.
Jim,
Those are great dogs…I would have one, but my cats would quietly kill me…
Done. Thanks, Michael, for putting a gentle smile on my face this evening.
Michael,,
Your cats would “quietly” kill you?!? That sounds kinda dark on their part.
Yeah, I kinda wonder why some people go out of their way to email/mail/phone negative messages. What kind of life do they have? I don’t want to know. Thanks again for this post.
Thanks, Michael.
That warmed my heart.
I like your love for your animals.
I also like that I am a treasure, although I don’t drool ….. yet.
I’d say the reader was trolling just to be cruel, but given the Karen and Ken stories coming out, some with violence, over masks and needlessly calling police on innocent black people, who knows? He looks like a cute kitty!
My mom once kicked a lady in Woolworths who told her that children like me should be locked away in institutions. I was 3, and have a genetic condition where I looked different than other kids.
I’d like to think that society has gotten nicer over the past few years, but it doesn’t seem so.
TNV,
That’s why a while back I decided I didn’t want to be “that guy” online anymore…the jerk, the “Ken”, the online troll. A few of my earlier comments here and elsewhere were typical of online banter. If anything, maybe I can help another person chill out by example. I try.
Dan, I bite my words and refuse to comment upon many things. Some long time friends think I’ve gone “librul.” I wish I hadn’t FB friended my son’s 4th grade teacher who defended the riots “that’s what insurance is for.” She’s an activist. I try to not say some things i want to say here, as that should not be what this space is for.
I almost weep for our country, because whether trump or Biden, I think that this unrest will continue and even increase.
The saying goes “there are no ordinary cats”. To that I add, ‘but there are extraordinary cats”… and I’ve had a few….
Beautiful words… we are blessed to share the company of drooling and scarred furkids.
TNV, “…this unrest will continue and even increase.”
Is it simply unrest or is it being expressed by very lawless, disrespecting souls?
Unless you’re prepared to say that millions and millions of those protesting are lawless and disrespecting souls, well, that really doesn’t wash.
Sure, there are some lawless ones. But all the reporting indicates they’re a small minority. The Trump Admin. is trying to paint them all as lawbreakers, which is quite far from the truth. And the large majority of us know this is false.
The right to protest is enshrined and protected by the First Amendment. For those who break the law, they need to be dealt with. I don’t think anyone disagrees with that.
bob1, point is the protesters are being used as a cover for what gives every indication of being a revolt – a very well planned attempt to cripple this nation – eliminate us as a player of some influence on the world stage.
Sorry Em, but I’m not buying what you’re selling. Where’s your proof? Talk is cheap…mine and yours. 🙂
“millions and millions of those protesting”
Huh?
Number of people in U.S. who said they protested, according to polls
POLL PCT. WHO PROTESTED IMPLIED POPULATION POLLING PERIOD
Kaiser Family Foundation (n = 1296) 10% 26 million June 8-14
Civis Analytics (4446) 9% 23 million June 12-22
N.O.R.C. (1310) 7% 18 million June 11-15
Pew (9654) 6% 15 million June 4-10
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/07/03/us/george-floyd-protests-crowd-size.html
My buddy in Portland says that the protesters go home at 11. From 11PM to 4AM, the violence and vandalism ensue, mostly white kid antifa types and likely some skinheads. He sent me a pic of broken windows and I saw “acab” graffiti, a skinhead slogan. Could be, or it could be a false flag, who knows?
This goes beyond BLM. CHOP/CHAZ was shut down in Seattle when a BLACK MAN was shot by CHOP “security. This is an utter failure.
bob1-ok, thanks.
bob1, yes talk IS cheap and those thousand word pictures cam be manipulated, but Seattle’s capitol hill was the scene of some pretty ugly destructive violence Friday and Saturday… and you cannot really fake buildings burned to black shells, lazer blinded LEO or shops completely trashed, looted and left in rubble…
Putting two and two together, it looks like an organized/orchestrated movement, but then i am old and easily influenced… LOL
God keep
That’s so sad that someone said Smokey was a “trash cat”. There are no trash cats or trash animals. We’ve had at least 3 Smokeys.