Reaching out

The kitten darted back into the protection of an empty can of ranch beans. She was as orange as a carrot and as quick as a gazelle. Nobody knew where the little one belonged but all agreed that she couldn’t be much older than five weeks. How she had survived the many hazards of Pine Springs RV Park was beyond comprehension. From the security of her new armored cave the tiny kitten hissed and swatted at anyone who tried to come close. She had already bitten a very nice lady who discovered her hiding beside her trailer partially hidden under a mountain lilac.

 

Before long a plan was conceived and put into action to capture the kitten and get it out of danger and into the security of someone’s home. A simple cage with food was set out to lure the animal in. After several minutes, with everyone hiding just out of sight, the hungry, little  orange tabby creped cautiously into the cage as the park ranger let go of the string that held up the door. The little kitten, which could have easily fit into the palm of your hand, threw back her ears, bared her sharply pointed teeth and scratched several times at the air.

A phone call was made to a local pastor’s wife and within minutes she was on her way to claim the frightened animal.  Jane was excited to finally have another addition to their family as they had recently lost another cat to old age.

Once arriving at their house Jane prepared the bathroom placing the kitten and  cage on the floor and opened the door. The kitten quickly ran out taking up a strategic position behind the toilet where she felt safer to fend off predators. 

She was wild at heart and determined to stay that way. Many attempts were made to coax her out from behind her porcelain protection using a variety of foods, kitten treats and soft singing but the little tiger would not budge and hissed threatening to bite at every attempt that was made.

Jane imagined how the little kitten must have felt being born into a crazy, dangerous world filled with a variety of metal machine monsters. These steel giants not only towered over her but made loud terrifying grinding; clicking noises that sent her scurrying back to the protection of the can. The park was located at the edge of a wild forest area where many predators like raccoons, skunks, weasels, possums, bob cats, mountain lions and coyotes randomly wandered through Pine Springs in search of unsuspecting prey.  The little newborn kitten was an easy target.

Once Jane returned home she was eager to reach out to hold her new prize. She had a soft spot in her heart for small animals and without thinking quickly reached behind the toilet gently picking up the kitten. Immediately the cute little kitten transformed into a whirling dervish of fur, sharp claws and needle like teeth that pierced her flesh as she squirmed and churned in Jane’s hands. When the dust finally had settled there was not one finger without a wound. 

Bound and determined to pet the kitten, one of Jane’s children rolled up a soft, fluffy scarf and put it on the end of a long stick. Slowly reaching back towards the kitten the friendly soft balled up scarf began gently rubbing the top of the kitten’s head. At first she instinctively began to hiss and then as if a switch was turned on began to purr very loudly. 

The next day a stuffed animal was introduced instead of the fluffy scarf and it wasn’t long until the stick was replaced by the son’s warm hand. It was amazing to see how quickly the kitten responded to the family’s care, love and kindness.

Watching this entire story unfold caused me to pause and think about many people we meet in our lives as we work and wander through this world.  Just like the kitten many people have grown up or are living in situations where they are not receiving enough love, kindness or encouragement to mature into healthy, well adjusted people. Children especially need to feel secure and the ones who grow up without the love of a parent often develop defensive postures for life just was the case of the little kitten that was hiding behind the toilet.

 Reaching

When our Lord , Jesus of Nazareth, walked the earth he poured out His entire life to love, nurture and encourage people to thrive. He reassured people that their Heavenly Father really loved them. He never missed an opportunity to reach out to anyone who needed hope. People will eventually respond to us if we will do our part to reach out to them where they are with love.