Thoughts on cats

   When I was younger, I had some extreme relationship problems, the largest one being that I didn’t really have any. Well, noticing the problem, my parents sat me down to talk about it. You know how parents are – they see a problem, and then they come to you with this exact rehearsed plan of how to explain things to you. They told me about being a good friend and balanced relationships and on and on, and then they asked me to name someone that I really loved and spent a lot of time with.

   And I named – no joke – my cats. I had two cats, a beautiful brown one named Sondra and a fat orange one named Chicken. My parents were naturally a little thrown off by my response, but continued with their plan.

   “And is that a balanced, 50-50 relationship?” they asked.

   I answered “no.” It definitely wasn’t.

   Then I realized it wasn’t even 80-20. This was a 100-0 relationship in which I gave 100% and they gave 0. I gave them food, water, I pet them, held them, saved them from the rain and dogs, and they got fur on my clothes and peed on my shoes. But even as I realized this, I didn’t love them any less! I loved them just the same, as I always had. I loved taking care of them. I loved petting them. I loved snuggling them in my arms. I loved loving them! It didn’t matter what they did or whether they gave 0 or 100 or -2000%, I would still love them.

   My parents went on to ask, “Well, what is it that you’re doing with the cats that you can do with other people?”

   I can give 100%! I can love them! What does it matter if the relationship is balanced? Are we supposed to love only if the person gives a certain percentage of effort or if they do certain things? We are called to love everybody, no matter what! I can give all of myself and not expect anything in return! I can just love them!

   This is what God does with us! Has he not already given us everything that he has? And what can we really give God? Does he need anything we can give or do for him? Just as my cats can’t ever do anything for me, just as I don’t need anything from them and I just want to love them and that won’t ever change, that is how God is with us but better! We could never give or do anything that God needs, but he still loves us so much, and that will never change!

   So, with that in mind, I quit trying to be cuddly and adorable and impressive and beautiful enough for God to approve. I jumped into his lap and snuggled in his arms. And in his arms, I found the relationship I'd been looking for all along!

   And then from there, I quit being kind and funny and polite. I quit trying to be a good and entertaining friend. Basically, I quit looking for friendships!

   I began loving people - anybody and everybody - with 100% of myself, giving all I could, in the same way I'd been loved!

   I was going to tell you what happened to my relationship problem after that. But you know what? It doesn't even matter.