Throwaways, Cats, Travels, and People

Tiny mews filtered through my kitchen window. Drop-dead tired because I’ve just returned from a trip to the top of the world, well actually, the farthest reaches of the USA, or as they put it, “As far as you can go without a passport,” I can’t even see straight and here a needy kitten is in my back drive-way.

Stepping outside I see her (all cats are girls and all dogs are boys, you know) as she scrambles to the hedge-cover that she came from. Already, her name is Smoky. Such long black/grey hair for a little one. She hops along with her tail straight up, lost and frightened. What has possessed someone to drop her off like this?

My gentle lady (see my HubPages photo-is that an avatar--I need to look that up) is comically confused. She’s tried to nurture baby squirrels that have fallen from their nests (unsuccessfully I’m glad to say), she’s tried to make friends with every cat and dog within 10 blocks, she tries to make friends with children whose happy ways scare her, but she’s never seen a kitten before. Rather sad, I know, but she nor we could take care of litter after litter if she had not been spayed.

She was born on a farm to a pregnant mama that had been dropped off, unwanted. We were delighted to take the runt of the litter! Her back legs are a little askew (maybe she’s just knot-kneed) and she’s smallish, but she’s too smart for her own good.

Once, when she was a young teen-ager, we were alone in the house. I heard her tumbling around somewhere when I began typing. The next thing I knew I had that eerie feeling of being observed unawares. It’s always creepy.

Turning slowly from my keyboard I looked down and there she was sitting like a princess with her tail wrapped around her front paws, wide-eyed, “chawing.” She was copying my gum-chewing while I was working! Yikes. That was even eerier.

Have I told you that story before? Hmmm...I’d better get back to the visiting kitten. Poor thing, it would not let us get close. Late that night I heard a strange rattle at our cat door in the garage and peeked out to see her once again scrambling around.

I put some food and water out hoping she would try it. It was all the same story the next day. My poor cat was walking around with a strange frown and meowing the question, “Can’t you please help her?”

Sigh. I would like very much to be able to.

All this got me to thinking about throwaways and it was too sad for me to dwell on.

As I traveled I had watched people connecting in airports, heard snatches of conversations, observed countenances, interacted with people in their home towns, and began to look forward to coming back to my home.

I watched kids who had been thrown away and parents who had been thrown away. I met those who had lost and those who were lost. I saw emptiness that I wished I could share truth with.

The world is full of hurting people in the grip of something bigger than they are. The unique independence of Alaskans, the arrogance of Seattle’s “tolerant” city dwellers, the whiskey-smooth sound of Memphis citizens, all have a common need.

Then, when you meet someone who has believed what God says about His Son in His Word, you know it immediately. They stand out in the crowd.

The one person that has become a new friend from this trip is carrying one of the deepest hurts a parent can experience, but her face shines. She has that promised peace that passes understanding and she is drawing nearer to her Lord.

Our paths crossed inexplicably and in this case we were drawn together, instantly realizing that our spirits bore witness to each other’s. It is a beautiful, comforting thing. Christians have something that no other group of people have and it is an amazing gift. "Hi," K. :)

I think of Christians who are being violently persecuted in other parts of the world. Would I be able to say, “I consider it a privilege to suffer for my Savior like this” in the face of beatings and imprisonment, in the face of knowing that I would soon die for my faith? Oh, Father, help me to be faithful!

The kitty cat? I think a neighbor, who works for a vet, was able to retrieve her. I hope so, anyway, because she is gone.

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