TGIF
So…Miss Kitty and I welcomed Chester into our home.
Well, I welcomed him…Miss Kitty was just informed of my decision to allow someone else in our space.
It’s not going real well…
Chester doesn’t act right…or to be more specific, he doesn’t act like we do.
He makes way too much noise…he howls before being fed and then he howls some more afterward.
We are quiet here, this racket is impolite.
His table manners are abominable…he tries to eat his food before it is even out of the can, then gulps the rest down as if the house were on fire.
He even eats off Miss Kitty’s plate…while she’s trying to eat her own food herself.
He makes guttural sounds while he eats and leaves a mess on the floor.
We place great worth on manners and table etiquette here.
He has no concept of personal boundaries and is constantly and desperately trying to get attention.
He has tried to push Miss Kitty off my lap and failing that, lays on the floor and cries.
How gauche.
Finally, he’s taken to getting on the bed, stretching out full length and sleeping when it suits him.
That is Miss Kitty’s spot and she is not at all pleased with her displacement.
She cannot understand why I have allowed this crude, ill trained, beast into our home.
She doesn’t remember that she acted the same way when I invited her to live here.
She doesn’t remember that she had been abandoned and left to learn how to live on her own.
She doesn’t remember how she would eat ravenously and in fear that someone would steal her food.
She doesn’t remember that she would often scratch and bite me because she was afraid petting would become punishment.
She doesn’t remember the joy of moving from a bed of thistles and dirt to one with a comforter inside a home.
She doesn’t remember.
If she remembered all these things, she would know that Chester is a lot like she was.
She would know that abuse and abandonment creates cats that don’t act right.
She would extend Chester the same grace she has received.
On the other hand…maybe she does remember where I found her…and wants to forget about that and me to forget about it as well.
That would be tragic.
There’s no cat more cruel than one who forgets where they were found, no cat more selfish than one that pretends it arrived without help.
All that she has, I’ve given her.
I was given it by someone else.
She’s here because I remember where I was found.
Sometimes…
Make your own application….
Lovely. SO TRUE~such a great illustration.
How dreadfully we forget that apart from the Lord Jesus, we are scoundrels just like the ‘worst of the worst out there”….
It’s still a level playing field.
For all have sinned and fallen short….
Our Savior said that “all men will know you are My disciples by your love, one for another”..
I have a new Chester in my life too.
Thanks for writing this.
Right on illustration….much appreciated.
“Sometimes”
Wow
Michael FTW
Michael,
Thanks for another great one. “She would know that abuse and abandonment creates cats that don’t act right.” People too.
Thanks, all… 🙂
“There’s no cat more cruel than one who forgets where they were found, no cat more selfish than one that pretends it arrived without help.”
God help us to never forget.
Oh and I forgot to thank you for teaching me a new word: “Gauche” is a great word. 🙂
i’m beginning to understand grace (God’s) much better thru these TGIFs
I just love cat theology.
Oh Miss Kitty! The things we learn from you. Looking forward to your new adventures with Chester.
Michael,
It always makes me wonder when you say “make your own application”, when usually you’ve pretty much nailed the application.. 😉
There’s a song by Steven Curtis Chapman, titled “Remember your Chains”, that sums it up for me:
“So remember your chains, remember the prison that once held you,
before the love of God broke through”
“Remember the place you were without grace,
when you see where you are now.
“Remember your chains, and remember your chains are gone.”
Darn drug dealers next door, and the ones across the street…
What scum…what low life…and their customers too.
(Guess I’ll check Phoenix Preacher)
Oh man…Chester…conviction.
***
Chester looks like a big boy.
He just won the kitty lottery!
Of course,as any good Calvinist will attest, it is a match made in heaven.
Just knowing that brings real peace and contentment into the situation.
Now if only Miss Kitty would understand like her human does.
Cash,
Check this out.
People name their business after gauche.
“https://www.google.com/search?q=Gauche&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8#q=rive+gauche
Actually the way they are using it the meaning completely changes to “Left Bank” which is on the River Seine in Paris.
Gauche, from smebb scudge to Parisian left bank elegance.
Somehow there is an application here but it is not one of my skill sets.
Like Owen says, Michael nails it.
Beautifully written, Michael…felt like I was right there observing the entire scenario. You’ve got a great way of putting pen to paper. 🙂