Rusty Mullins
We are a cat family. We have had two dogs over the last 15 years, both for pretty short stays.
We have had five cats over the span of our marriage, and we currently have three who allow us to live in their house with them.
Make no mistake, my wife and I are required to pay all the bills, maintain the house and provide them food and drink, but the house (at least in their furry minds) belongs to them.
Currently, Ellie Mae is the queen of our home. She is thirteen years old and slowing down a little every day. During the Super Bowl, I was sitting in the recliner in our living room when I heard a loud thump to my left.
I had no idea what had occurred but our guest said that our eldest cat had tried to join me in the chair and missed.
She tried again a little later with the same result. Jumps that once were routine to her now cause her frustration, pain and embarrassment. The old grey tabby just ain’t what she used to be, I suppose.
Oliver is the first male cat we have owned. He is orange and white and has become rather mellow for a four-year-old feline. He is simply happy to sit back and watch the day pass by, only moving to eat or find the litter pan.
He only gets demonstrative when he is hungry. When the food bowl is empty, or even close to empty, Oliver seeks out one of his human servants to refill the bounty.
He walks with his tail, which is long and slender, straight up in the air like a radio antennae on a police car.
Charlie is the baby of the furry family members. He is less than a year old and still has a lot of energy and pounce in his step—much to the chagrin of his older brother and sister.
Charlie makes us laugh. He is the first cat we have owned who likes to watch cat videos on my wife’s phone. There is a recording of birds flying down and eating seeds off an outdoor table—then the plot thickens when a squirrel shows up, jumps in and has his own meal.
Charlie will watch, mesmerized by the sounds and the moving animals. He reaches his paw behind the phone to see if he can catch the birds and the squirrel.
He is cute and funny, but he isn’t that bright, obviously. Depth perception is also not a strong suit for our youngest cat.
Our first cat was a black and white girl we named Princess. I never wanted to have indoor animals. It was something that I was not raised with, but the cute black cat with a white belly and paws melted my heart when we adopted her in our seminary years.
My wife and I still think Princess should have also gotten a seminary diploma—she studied with us every night as we earned our Master’s Degrees.
My first opportunity for me to be a full-time pastor occurred when Princess was the royalty of our home. I remember coming home, frustrated and in pain, lying on the first couch we owned which was about as plush as a slice of Texas toast and feeling her jump up to join me, normally sitting on my feet.
She would spend hours there, seeming to understand that I needed to rest and be quiet and she was willing to join me and make sure I followed through.
I think that our first kitty understood something taught by the psalmist many years ago in Psalm 46. In our busy lives I think we miss an imperative given to us in verse 10.
The different translations each deal with the verse a little differently, but the command from God is for us to take the time to stop and recognize that God is God and we are not. God calls us to be still, stop striving and fighting and acknowledge that he is God.
When I didn’t feel well, when my day had not gone like I wanted, it was a black and white tabby that reminded me that we all need to take the time to simply be still and trust God—he knows what he is doing and He is in control. Princess was very wise, remember, she went to seminary.
So, are you running just to try to keep up with yourself? Many people in our culture are, that is for certain. Technology, it seems, has given us the ability to juggle even more. I have witnessed my daughters, listen to music, watch videos, text friends, munch on chips, sip expensive coffee and do homework all at the same time.
Well, I’m not sure they were doing their homework, but they were doing all of the rest.
God called out in David’s time and He continues to call out to us—slow down, rest, listen, stop fighting, take it easy and let him take care of you. That’s what Princess taught me, and she was a Greek meowing scholar.
Rev. Rusty Mullins was the former editor of the Radford News Journal and the News Messenger. He also served as pastor of North Fork Baptist Church in Blacksburg. He is currently the Senior Pastor of New Highland Baptist Church in Mechanicsville. He would enjoy any feedback at rusty.mullins@newhighlandbaptist.org.
