Hey Fat Cat

Walking home from work last week, a very surprising site crossed my path. It was a tabby cat, ordinary in every way except his waddle, because he was, as you have probably guessed, extremely obese. Not chubby, not well-fed, but obviously over-fed and under-exercised.

As I walked on I started to think about how fat we are all becoming; not just the couch potatoes anymore, but our friends and families and children, and even our pets are over-indulging. It’s not enough that our society has everything we need, but now we need to hoard it all for ourselves.

As I walked on, a particularly strange thought crossed my mind. How can someone feed their unsuspecting tabby cat so much in excess that his belly drags on the ground? How can they do this when it is common knowledge that the majority of the world is incessantly hungry?

I can’t shake the idea that as this Tabby Cat gets fatter and fatter thousands and thousands of Children are dyeing of starvation. How many children could we feed if we stopped over-feeding all the cats? How many could we feed if we got rid of the cats all together?

Alright, so that is a terrible thought. Kill the cats to save the children.

It’s a terrible thought until you examine the opposite: Kill the children to save the cats. Or better said: Starve the children to feed the cats.

The worst part of this statement is that it is exactly what we are doing.



Think about it.

Love anything and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly be broken. If you want to be sure of keeping it intact, you must give your heart to no one - not even to an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies andlittle luxuries; avoid all entanglements. Lock it up safely in the casket or the coffim of your selfishness. But, in that casket-safe, dark, motionless, airless, it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, unredeemable. The only place outside heaven where you can be safe from all the dangers and perturbations of love is hell.

-C.S. Lewis

Refreshing

This morning I went to the Seed Street Ministry for an interview. I was pretty nervous, not only for my interview, but because I was in a room full of homeless people. Don't get me wrong, I knew I was perfectly safe inside the building, but still there was a lingering sense of worry in my stomach.

While I waited in line to talk to the secretary, a few of their guests were sitting in the chairs waiting for computers. These two ladies were talking amongst themselves, about their week

and how they are staying out of trouble, even though many things had been tempting them lately. As they talked on they soon began to talk about what they needed and wanted in the world. The younger of the two paused, pointed at me, and said "I could use a pair of glasses like those!"

It made me smile, not because the ladies talked and talked about my frames, but because in that instant my worry dissolved. I no longer felt nervous, but I could look these people straight in the eyes and feel nothing but complete love for them.

This sense of compassion for the street people of Calgary had left my heart for much too long. But alas, today is has returned.

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace,
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
where there is sadness, joy;

-St. Francis of Assisi

amen.

Changing Gears.

its time to re-consider.

It seems nothing can change my heart. Home is home is home. Here I find peace, love, acceptance, joy, laughter, comfort. This is the road to possibilities, the road filled with memories and laughter, this is the road home.

I am longing to go home.

realize

live for life's simplicities.