TGIF
Theological reflections from a trip to the cat shelter…
I hate going to the cat shelter.
I hate it because it makes me feel intense pain, as I am a cat lover.
The cats are all in cages waiting for someone to choose them and give them a home.
The people come…mainly for the kittens.
The older cats have far less of a chance of adoption.
They seem to know that and they retreat to cage corners and isolate themselves even more.
Those are the ones I try to seek out and spend time with, to hold them, and pet them, and remind them that they are loved and lovable.
If I could, I would take them all home.
Yes, yes, I would.
It grieves me deeply that I do not have the resources and ability to do this.
This brings me to the theological doctrine of election.
I once clung tightly to the Reformed doctrine of election that says that God is like a person going to the cat shelter.
He chooses some and chooses to leave some behind.
He does this for his glory, they say.
I never feel glorious leaving the cat shelter.
I feel grief and inadequacy and the horrible loneliness that those left behind must feel.
Am I kinder and more caring than God?
Certainly not.
When I go to the shelter, I get down on the floor with the cats and I do everything I can to make them understand that I’m there as a friend who longs to see them rescued and to have a permanent, loving, home.
God came and put on human flesh and dwelt among us.
It was a rescue mission.
In cat terms, He put on fur, grew a tail, and ate Friskies with us.
For God so loved the world…
He has the resources to save as many as He wants to and He’s already promised a permanent home.
Am I a universalist?
Nope.
There are a few bad cats out there…who love neither God nor people.
I still try to love them.
He does too…
How do all these doctrines come together?
I don’t have a clue.
I just pray that the cages are always empty of those who want a loving father and a permanent home…
Make your own application…
I love this more than I can possibly write. I would take them all too, if I could, if I thought they would actually get along. Lol.
I love your ministry to our feline fellows. Sweet
Personally I never bought into the L of the TULIP
Maybe it can be changed to stand for Love, instead.
Thank you, Paige…I knew you’d get it.
The worst is the kittie who sees you coming and reaches thru the cage to grab you as you walk past
The next worst is the dog or cat that catches your eye and then goes over to nose the gate latch
I used to take the contents of my paper shredder to the local shelter… they used it for bedding or litter or something and delivering it meant walking past the cat cages
BTW, if you have a plurality of cats some neighbor will call the cops… Baby sitting my kids cats,, we experienced that delight
Treys new cat reached out and grabbed him…I told him it was a sign of divine providence…
In my neighborhood, there are two “cat houses”…mine and one about a block away.
If someone called the cops I’d spend part of every day praying imprecatory Psalms on their yard…
Love this Michael….that is the aspect of TULIP I cannot accept…that God does not desire to have a relationship with humanity, as a whole.
Em, many years ago, I adopted a calico kitty who reached through the cage to touch me as I walked past. She went home with me and I named her “Opie” because she was a country cat. She and I were companions for many years and she had such a personality! I sure loved that girl…she was my first furry companion after living on my own. I can’t imagine a God who gives up on people or animals. We are a reflection of Him, and it seems, we all feel the same way about those on the fringes of society or the shelter.
I wonder if God — if he exists — is looking for the bad cats, too.
All cats are good and bad, but love covers the smell of the cat box…and God loves them all…
Spot-on.
It’s odd for me ’cause while I’m a “dog-person,” most of my life I end-up with at least 1 cat, and he/she is VERY strange, and for some reason like me probably more than I them.
Anyway, well stated.
However, I’m having difficulty seeing how The Moses Model fits into all that.
BrianD, God does NOT exist
He IS
sometimes we exist, tho … 🙂
Thanks, Michael, Em.
Awesome piece Michael. My only comment I’d add in clarity would be that when you say “He has the resources to save as many as He wants to”, I’d say and the great thing is that His want is to save all. I don’t understand this notion people have of God desiring some to be with Him and some not – that’s not the heart of the Father I know and that’s not what I see modeled for me in the life of Jesus (who the Bible tells me in Hebrews is the exact imprint of God’s nature) . God provided for all because He loves all and wants all. Whether people respond to that and are willing to leave their cage and accept that love is where the issue lies. God may know ahead of time that not all will respond, but that doesn’t change the fact His heart was for them.
It’s an old analogy, probably theologically vulnerable, but my mind always rested in the illustration: God has invited all to the marriage supper, but being omniscient, He knows who will read their invitation and accept. Thus He only sets the table for that number…. Genesis to Revelation’s end, all are known right down to the number of hairs on our heads… Now that takes some amazing capacity… Beyond my ken. ?