It appears that I am not the only pastor in the world with cat issues. A church member sent the following story to me a little while back. She said that, for some reason, my ongoing “struggle for dominance” with my wife’s cat came to her mind. Anyway…
A certain pastor had a kitten that climbed up a tree in his backyard. The kitten was then afraid to come down. The pastor coaxed, offered warm milk, and tried most everything he could think of to get it to come down.
The little kitten just would not come down. His problem was that the tree was not sturdy enough to climb. So the pastor decided that if he tied a rope to the bumper of his car and pulled it until the tree bent down, he could then reach up and get the kitten down.
That, then, is just what he did. He attached one end of a rope to the tree and the other to his car, and then pulled the tree downward, all the while checking his progress in the car. After getting out and trying unsuccessfully to reach the kitten, he decided that if he went just a little bit further with the car, the tree would be bent sufficiently for him to reach the kitten.
But as he moved the car a little further forward, the rope broke. The tree went 'BOING!' and the kitten instantly sailed up through the air – completely out of sight.
Needless to say, the pastor felt terrible. He walked all over the neighborhood hunting for the animal, asking people everywhere if they had seen a little kitten. Alas, though, nobody had seen any stray kitten. So he resigned himself to the matter, and then prayed, “Lord, I just commit this kitten into your safe keeping.” He then went on about his business.
A few days later, he was at the grocery store, and met one of his church members. He happened to look into her shopping cart and was amazed to see lots of cat food. Now this woman was known by all as a cat hater. Intrigued, he asked her, 'Why are you buying cat food when you hate cats so much?'
She replied, “You won't believe this, Pastor, but…” and then she told him how her little girl had been begging her for a cat. For her part, she had kept refusing. Then a few days before, the child had really pleaded with her for a cat... So the mom finally relented and told her little girl, “Well, if God gives you a cat, I'll let you keep it.”
She then told the pastor, “I watched my child go out in the yard, get down on her knees, and ask God for a cat. And really, Pastor, you simply will not believe this, but I saw it with my own eyes. All of a sudden, this kitten just came flying out of the clear blue sky, with its little paws outspread, and landed right in front of her.”
I guess the Lord does work in mysterious ways! Now, let me assure you that I would never fling Mrs. Vickie’s cat out into space, at least not on purpose. But, if she ever would consent, I would be glad to give it away to anyone praying for a cat of their own. Really, I would just drop it right in on them. Of course, we all know that is about as unlikely to occur as what happened in this little story…
Note: This is an “oldie, but goodie” that has been around for quite a while. It has been told in several variations. Cf.: http://www.snopes.com/critters/mishaps/flying.aspand also
http://msgboard.snopes.com/message/ultimatebb.php?/ubb/get
_topic/f/81/t/000452/p/1.html. Few people take the story seriously, but it does prompt us to laugh at the improbability of such a thing even as we envision it unfolding in our imaginations.
A certain pastor had a kitten that climbed up a tree in his backyard. The kitten was then afraid to come down. The pastor coaxed, offered warm milk, and tried most everything he could think of to get it to come down.
The little kitten just would not come down. His problem was that the tree was not sturdy enough to climb. So the pastor decided that if he tied a rope to the bumper of his car and pulled it until the tree bent down, he could then reach up and get the kitten down.
That, then, is just what he did. He attached one end of a rope to the tree and the other to his car, and then pulled the tree downward, all the while checking his progress in the car. After getting out and trying unsuccessfully to reach the kitten, he decided that if he went just a little bit further with the car, the tree would be bent sufficiently for him to reach the kitten.
But as he moved the car a little further forward, the rope broke. The tree went 'BOING!' and the kitten instantly sailed up through the air – completely out of sight.
Needless to say, the pastor felt terrible. He walked all over the neighborhood hunting for the animal, asking people everywhere if they had seen a little kitten. Alas, though, nobody had seen any stray kitten. So he resigned himself to the matter, and then prayed, “Lord, I just commit this kitten into your safe keeping.” He then went on about his business.
A few days later, he was at the grocery store, and met one of his church members. He happened to look into her shopping cart and was amazed to see lots of cat food. Now this woman was known by all as a cat hater. Intrigued, he asked her, 'Why are you buying cat food when you hate cats so much?'
She replied, “You won't believe this, Pastor, but…” and then she told him how her little girl had been begging her for a cat. For her part, she had kept refusing. Then a few days before, the child had really pleaded with her for a cat... So the mom finally relented and told her little girl, “Well, if God gives you a cat, I'll let you keep it.”
She then told the pastor, “I watched my child go out in the yard, get down on her knees, and ask God for a cat. And really, Pastor, you simply will not believe this, but I saw it with my own eyes. All of a sudden, this kitten just came flying out of the clear blue sky, with its little paws outspread, and landed right in front of her.”
I guess the Lord does work in mysterious ways! Now, let me assure you that I would never fling Mrs. Vickie’s cat out into space, at least not on purpose. But, if she ever would consent, I would be glad to give it away to anyone praying for a cat of their own. Really, I would just drop it right in on them. Of course, we all know that is about as unlikely to occur as what happened in this little story…
Note: This is an “oldie, but goodie” that has been around for quite a while. It has been told in several variations. Cf.: http://www.snopes.com/critters/mishaps/flying.aspand also
http://msgboard.snopes.com/message/ultimatebb.php?/ubb/get
_topic/f/81/t/000452/p/1.html. Few people take the story seriously, but it does prompt us to laugh at the improbability of such a thing even as we envision it unfolding in our imaginations.