The Parable of the Ungrateful Cat
The couple had not wanted a cat. But the children who brought the scrawny kitten to their door on a cold winter night had played on their sympathy. So, the kitten gained admission, fleas, and all, and ran crying to the family refrigerator.
The cat’s new owner went to work immediately to transform the little female into an acceptable pet. She secured for it the tastiest and most nutritious of cat foods: condensed milk, tuna, chicken, liver, etc., and any number of combinations of these. She de-flead the little feline and took her to a vet for her rabies and distemper shots when she was old enough for these.
Because the cat’s feet were white and resembled white boots, the new owner with her master’s hardy approval, called her “Boots.” The new master loved the cat and always rubbed her fur the right way – and let her have the run of the house. They even permitted her to sleep on top of the sofa. And they gave her a clawing pole and balls and spools, and many other things kittens like to have fun with. .
Then, one day when Boots was well nourished and her fur was in fine fettle, she suddenly decided that she did not need her master any longer. Was it not her new master who was her constant companion and the one who fed her promptly and patted her throughout the day? Who was this lady anyhow who stayed away all day and came home at night and expected her boots to purr over her?
The fact that it was her master who paid the rent and bought the groceries, including the cat groceries, seemed to make not the slightest difference in the cat’s attitude. She would run away anytime the master approached her.
“What have I done to deserve this?” asked the master. “I have never stepped on the cat even accidentally and I have always been kind to her.”
Suddenly, God was speaking to the cat’s frustrated master.” Now you see what it is like between me and my people,” he was saying. “I have given you life and I have nourished you and loved you and yet many of you run from me. Some of you would not like to be caught dead in my house. You are indebted to me for all you are and all you have. Yet, you do not love of me, you despise me.”
And that is the parable of The Ungrateful Cat.
“Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth!
For the Lord has spoken:
“I have nourished and brought up children,
And they have rebelled against Me;
The ox knows its owner
And the donkey its master’s crib;
But Israel does not know,
My people do not consider” (Isaian 1:2-3),
“Give thanks unto the Lord for He is Good! “
Respectfully submitted,
Robert Bryant