Arnold was a tough guy.  He kept his distance.  He’d been in countless fights and encounters with motorized vehicles.  He carried the scars on a face only a mother could love.  In a way, he protected our house.  Arnold was a cat.

 

Saturday night, the same “tough streets” he had patrolled for years, took his life.

 

I learned a lot from Arnold.  I learned life isn’t always fair.  I learned much of our character is revealed by never giving up.  But, far more importantly, he taught me the most powerful thing we will ever do is to show concern for someone else.

 

Now, before you think I’ve lost my mind (learning life’s lessons from a cat) there is something you need to understand.  The first time I saw Arnold, I didn’t like him very much, but I did admire his swagger.  Arnold didn’t walk like an alley cat, he walked like a lion. 

 

As time passed by, I began to talk to him.  After awhile, he graduated to coming close enough to eat from the food we always keep out for the community cats.  Then, just the other day, a miracle occurred.  Arnold came to me and let me rub his back.

 

I don’t know whether you like cats or not, but the lesson this teaches us needs to burn deep into our hearts and souls.  Somebody has to take the first step!  If you want to be what God wants you to be, that somebody better be you.  If not, you’ll waste away in the hinterlands of self-servitude, wondering why you’ve never influenced a single soul.

 

Just a cat?  Maybe.  Or maybe it’s one of those times when God has to reach deep inside of us and find a new way to teach us a few things.

 

Thanks, Arnold.  We’re all going to miss you.