SUNDAY'S STYLE SNAFU
Pitifully pathetic just about describes her. Who am I describing? Sunday, our church hall kitty. Sunday's been living at the church hall since this past fall when she and her three kittens adopted Alan and Lesley from our congregation. Lesley was able to farm out the three kittens and then the church decided that the mother could be fixed and cleaned and "hired" as a natural means of rodent removal.
Sunday's prowess as a mouse mugger has yet to be clinically proven, but her potential has peaked. As someone who recently saw Sundays "new look" commented: "All the mice have to do is look at the cat and they will drop dead laughing!" What's so funny about Sunday's appearance?
Think of one of those extremely ugly, hairless cats, make it scrawny, then tar and feather it and give it a bad toupee and a bushy tail so that it looks like an Adam's family feather duster, and you'll get a vague idea. But, before you start to line up buses and make placards to protest the L'Etete Church of Christ's unfair treatment of felines, let me give you the facts behind how our very own punk cat arrived at her new look.
It all started a couple of months ago. Sunday had really long hair and it had become hopelessly entangled, especially around her neck. The tugging and pulling of the tangles must have driven her around the bend because she really started to scratch with the neurotic ferocity of a truckload of Woody Allens!
Soon clumps and clods and clouds of cat hair flooded the floor. Worse still, Sunday's neck was absolutely bald. There was a band of four inches where nary a hair remained.
When I noticed this rapid deterioration in Sunday's plunging neckline, I became repulsed, sickened, and then I slowly pulled myself together and mustered some motivational sympathy. Obviously, something was terribly wrong, so I called Sheila to come over for a second opinion. Soon we were contacting the vet to tell her about Sunday's necking. She put our minds to rest and simply stated that it was a common thing for long-haired cats. Her solution was to get the cat shaved. So, Sheila took Sunday to a local pet groomer and then the fur really began to fly!
A couple of hours later, Sheila arrived back at the hall with Sunday. Apparently things went quite well until Sunday got away, and hid somewhere in the groomer's house for an extended period of time. Sheila had quite a time tracking her down, but thankfully, she always gets her man (ain't I lucky?).
When I first spied Sunday's new look, I laughed for several minutes. Sunday looked like "The Exorcists" version of Sherry Lewis' Lamb Chop, except that she had an unshaven feline head and tail. It was almost like an apocalyptic vision from Revelation - "and the furless feline rose from the sea and Babylon was her name." No 'bout a doubt it: Sunday was a sorry site, but much more comfortable!
OK, so what do we learn from Sunday's shenanigans? I'll leave the majority of conclusions for you to consider and give you just one: when entangled, do whatever's necessary to get free!
Jesus said in Matthew 5:30,"And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell."
I don't believe that Jesus was being literal with this statement. All He was trying to do was alert us to the seriousness of sin and the degree of vigilance we should have in removing it from our lives.
Sunday's eradication of her entanglements was most likely painful, and definitely radical, but she was also unquestionably effective. She is now free of that frustration and pain.
How radical are you at dealing with sin in your life? How free is your life from the frustration and pain of sin? Are you willing to remove it at all cost to regain your freedom? The only way to do that is by giving your life to Jesus, not just once, but each and every day. "If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed." (John 8:36) Now cut it out!
If your curiosity has the best of you, click on the "See Sunday" arrow below. Just remember what curiosity did to the cat!
If you have a questions or comments or just want to talk, write me by clicking on my name at the bottom of the page.
