Contemplation on the Customs of Cats

There are many ways to categorize people in this world. There are the Christian believer/non-believer categories. There are the gender male/female categories. There are the political democrat/republican categories.  There are the ice cream flavor preference chocolate/vanilla categories. There are space movie preference Star Wars/Star Trek categories. And then there are pet preference dog/cat categories. And if I would label myself through all of these six categories, I am a believing male republican who likes chocolate, Star Wars, and cats.

And even though today is inauguration day, and even though today is about 11 months before the next Star Wars movie comes out, and even though there is much confusion about gender in our society today, and even though I haven’t had chocolate ice cream in forever, the focus of this post is cats.

I have long held that I am a cat person because they remind me of my smallness before God. In fact, my family has had four cats ever since about a week before I met the Lord. These cats all live outside. Cats generally think they own the world, and have humans as their servants (not typically wanting to spend time with the humans), but if you put them outside the majority of the time then something becomes incredibly clear incredibly quickly.

Jesus describes Himself in Revelation 3:7 by saying, “The Holy One, the True One, the One who has the key of David, who opens and no one will close, and closes and no one opens.” Basically, if Jesus doesn’t open a door of opportunity, it just isn’t ever going to open. As humans, we often think, like cats, that we run everything, that everyone should praise and worship us, and that if we are not the center of attention then something is wrong. But then I would think about my cats back home and say, “Stupid little fools, you need us to open up the door to let you in to be able to eat your food. You’d have nothing if it wasn’t for us.” And then my mind immediately says, “Now who’s the stupid little fool?”

Cats keep me humble. That’s the point of this post.

And then I went and got myself a cat on December 31, 2016. I keep him indoors. This cat is not like your typical cat (or maybe I’m just blinded by affection—which is totally possible, even if you just compare this post from a year ago). While most cats do their own thing, all this cat wants is to be with me. He’s extremely talkative (except for when I’m going to bed for the night), while most cats are quiet. He wants to go outside, but I won’t let him.

Combo

My cat always wants to be with me. Two verses from King David come to mind when reflecting on this concept:

“You reveal the path of life to me; in Your presence is abundant joy; in Your right hand are eternal pleasures.” (Psalm 16:11)

“Do not banish me from Your presence or take Your Holy Spirit from me.” (Psalm 51:11)

King David was so enamored with God’s presence that he concludes psalm 16 by saying in effect, “I don’t care what else God has done for me; as long as I am in His presence I am content.” And, by way of comparison, he hits a low point in his confession of Psalm 51 by realizing, “God, You’d be totally just to remove Your presence from me; please don’t!”

It causes me to ask myself, “How much do I want to be in God’s presence?” My cat wants to be near me, or at least know that I am near, at least as often as I am home, and likely much more often. God is near me at all times, whether I am home or away. Do I take advantage of His presence, or ignore it, thus acting more prideful than my own pride-filled cat?

My cat is extremely talkative. From the moment I wake up in the morning, “MEOW,” to the moment I walk out the door to go to work, “MEOW.” Then, the moment I walk back in the door, “MEOW,” to the moment I go to bed, “MEOW.” It brings to mind 1 Thessalonians 5:17, and humbles me to the floor. Paul there writes, “Pray constantly.”

I used to think, “Well, maybe he wants food.” Food bowl is full. “Maybe he needs water.” Water bowl is full. “Maybe his box needs cleaned.” I clean it anyways.

“MEOW.”

“Well, what in the world do you want, little buddy?” (as I’ve lovingly started calling him).

“Maybe he wants attention.” I start petting him and scratching his ears, and rubbing his belly.

“MEOW.”

I’ve come to the conclusion that he just wants to hear my voice. He calls out in an effort to know that I’m still there, that I haven’t left him, that I still love him. And it rocks me to the core, because I can hardly keep praying for five minutes on a thirty minute drive to work everyday. God wants to hear my voice much more than I want to hear my cat’s voice, but too often, I am quiet. I must remember that while I ditch my cat for 8+ hours a day to go to work, God is perfect and does not do that; He always hears me. Will I start praying more fervently, more constantly, or continue to be outdone by a little cat?

My cat wants to go outside all the time. (This is actually one of his meows that I’ve come to recognize and lovingly deny.) His previous owner lived out in the country, and as such, letting him go outside was much different. I live in the city, and letting my cat out would unnecessarily put him at risk of catnapping, accidental catslaughter, or just plain and simple lostness. It reminds me of Hebrews 12:11. “No discipline seems enjoyable at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it yields the fruit of peace and righteousness to those who have been trained by it.” It again humbles me, because I realize that denying my cat exit from the house is for his own good, but I whine and complain to God that He’s holding out on me—keeping me from good things. I probably sound a lot like my cat in my prayers of complaint.

God is training me into the man that He wants me to be, even though I often feel like I’m being punished or held out on. Five years from now I’ll probably realize exactly why everything happened the way it did at this point in my life, and then I’ll thank God for it, but right now, I should recognize that God knows best, and even if it’s hard, I must thank Him for knowing best when it comes to me. Am I going to better than my cat, and trust that God has my best at heart, or am I going to whine and complain like a stupid cat?

So, with all that said, I need to love God’s presence more, I need to pray more often, and I need to trust that God is looking out for my best. If I can do all that, I will grow in godliness, grow in humility, and thank God that He gave me a cat to help teach me some lessons about myself and Himself.

And at the end of the day, I can thank God that Matthew 19:12 nowhere says, “some were made eunuchs by God,” but rather, “For there are eunuchs who were born that way from their mother’s womb, there are eunuchs who were made by men, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves that way because of the kingdom of heaven. Let anyone accept this who can.”

Sorry, little buddy. ;)