TGIF
Last night whilst I was sitting here doing some research, Miss Kitty jumped up into my lap for some attention.
This is not usually noteworthy, except that Missy has been struggling with anxiety and has rarely wanted attention for quite some time.
I’ve tried to change her environment and along with nightly doses of some CBD oil we were gifted (thanks Ashley!) she’s getting back to normal.
So normal, that she soon decided that the chair was hers and I needed different seating.
No problem…I was going to bed anyway.
About an hour later, I was awakened by the sound of her emptying her stomach somewhere on the floor.
No problem…I cleaned it up, fed her again, and went back to bed.
At 3:00 AM I was awakened by her standing on my head.
She was hungry.
I got up, opened a can, and went back to bed.
At 3:10 AM she informed me that she didn’t like that food and preferred something else.
No problem. I’ll take care of that right now.
At 4:30 AM Cinnabun knocked the door open and jumped on the bed to tell me it was raining.
I thanked her for sharing, shut the door, and went back to sleep.
After I got up this morning to take Trey to work, Missy came in the bathroom and scolded me because her water dish was almost empty.
“Almost empty” to a cat means that she had already taken a drink from the bowl, thus it was “almost empty”.
I promptly remedied my neglect of her needs.
Now the (only) interesting thing about all this is that at no point during all this was I even slightly irritated or out of sorts.
I was simply serving creatures I love and was thus, unoffendable.
However…
If you came in my house, threw me out of my chair, threw up on my floor, woke me up to feed you, woke me up with trivial information, woke me up for anything other than my house was on fire… then scolded me for not doing enough… I would be irritated, angry, and deeply offended.
In reality, you don’t have to do much as a human to raise my ire and offense.
Sometimes, the very existence of someone can offend me.
I consider it an act of divine sanctification when I keep my offense to myself instead of making “colorful” comments or “traditional” hand gestures.
When I was young I had to avoid the temptation to sin by avoiding bars and clubs, now, I have to stay out of WalMart.
The root of this is a lack of love.
I do not love my neighbor as myself.
I love my neighbors cats as my own,but I have little use for the neighbor himself.
This is sin.
You, I’m sure, are far nicer than I am.
I… have to repent.
Maybe the Lord has blessed me with cats so I can practice how to treat people.
Maybe…
We’ll see the next time I’m in WalMart and a person driving a cart runs me over in the cat food aisle…
Make your own application…
Good post Michael.
You are not the only one. Wife and I often prefer the company to our dogs as opposed to the mere existence of humans. Actually, she’s more tolerable than me at times.
I like that you mentioned that we should keep our offense to ourselves. Hard to do, especially on-line, where anonymity is our shield to protect our passive-aggressive behavior.
BTW, my weak spot is Target and the freeways of Atlanta.
ok, I am lacking some sleep…meant that we prefer the company OF our dogs to humans.
Carry on!
Dan,
Thanks for the company. 🙂
I learned to keep my sin to myself by having T inform me that I was an embarrassment…when he was 9.
He’s 17 now and I’m still trying…
I have trouble loving people, too. I avoid as much human interaction as I can. Amazon Prime is my friend. Of course God gave me a most outgoing and social wife. But that’s just so like Him, isn’t it?
I think being a sensitive introverted person is good as we notice things others might not. The down side is we get hurt easy and want to avoid that hurt as much as possible.
Thank you for being vulnerable, as always. You are loved and appreciated.
“Our thoughts determine our lives,” and this is not New Age blather but it’s what Christ Himself says: If you hate someone in your heart, or lust after someone in your heart, it’s as if you did the deed.
If we constantly saturate our minds with news and Tweets about the wickedness of others, it will have a negative affect on our souls. Hate in; hate out.
My advice to anyone wanting to find the peace of Christ that surpasses all understanding and for those who are desirous of loving their neighbor as themselves is to severely limit time spent on a certain negative type of social media that only serves to fuel anger and leave the viewer in a state of continual seething resentment.
I recommend this book: Our Thoughts Determine Our Lives: The Life and Teachings of Elder Thaddeus of Vitovnica
These days i’m a WalMart shopper (closest to me)… here we take pride in avoiding slamming carts, smile when we almost do and exchange pleasantries… Must be the store layout
My test is a cat that jumps on counter – don’t leave any food out for a second, poops anywhere BUT the litter box, watches for a chance to scoot through an open door into the garage, but stands at the open door forever when you hold it for her to come back inside.. ummm, maybe i will… maybe i won’t, but don’t let the door go shut… I’m still thinking…. ?
We humans aren’t all alike are we? ?
IF you are a Christian and it shows, there are a few people who WILL hate you with a pure and persistent hatred – Don’t react to them, if possible. Less easily ignored are your fellow Believers who find you self righteous and presumptive if your Faith shows… Believers who seem to think the Church should be like them, always blindly climbing out of ditches because the “righteous” thing to do is ignore the crowd walking sideways… errr something
JoelG, you and I are similar…my wife is an extrovert and I am not. It’s hard to leave church Sunday mornings. Ha!
I can get hurt easily and withdraw from people easily as well.
Dan, my weak spot is freeways, too. When we have to deal with people and get hurt it usually comes comes out in anger. I surprise myself how quickly I lose my temper. Yikes.
JoelG,
Thanks!
My problem isn’t seething anger at all.
I’m pretty calm on freeways and such.
My problem is that I’m an introvert under a ton of stress and I don’t react well to people invading my personal space or just generally being discourteous.
Amazon has made me worse…in that my natural lean toward isolation is fed by it.
I also have a sin problem… 🙂
A sin problem? Unbelievable…. ?
Thank God for grace and mercy – for the unspeakable gift that He provided/offers to us all at Calvary
I have an unrequited inter-species love issue with Lilly The 19 year old Chihuahua my mom left to me. I feel badly that I can’t requite.
Two weeks ago at the mall we saw “Mini Cat Town.” My initial reaction was “First World Problems.” Yet I paid $35 for me and the kids to play with cats for half an hour.
I had a series of pet rats for a decade, very intelligent and friendly creatures. Love me, love my rat.
I hear you about humans. I’m counting down the days until the kids go off to college or whatever and I can move and retire to my compound in Idaho, where I wonder if being a hermit is a sin.