Then there were the rabbits and the birds, but one rabbit disappeared through the hole in the backyard fence, and one bird got eaten by the cat (at least that's what we suspected, since the cage was full of feathers) so that was that. Still cats have always been part of the family. My no. 2 takes after the dad, except she's into more exotic stuff - like gliders. She's handled 6 so far, if I remember correctly. I always wish she would be as conscientious about cleaning her room as she is about their cages, but that's another story. Some months back, 2 adventurous little gliders went out gallivanting; one came back, the other didn't. And would you believe it, the prodigal did it again recently. But this time he got smarter - he stayed closer to home; I found Eli making himself comfy in the laundry basket - thankfully I had checked before I threw its contents into the washing machine; otherwise there would have been one very wet (and probably very dead) glider in the wash.
Actually animal antics teach me a lot about life. There's sweet old Uggy who never strays but is content to eat, sleep and be loved by everyone in the house. You can say she's the smartest (or laziest) of the lot - she knows a good deal when she has one, and she sticks with it. Hai, if only we humans would be content with and accept the good deal God has already prepared for us. Such a contrast from Zaza, the current reigning 'queen' cat in our home who has that wild streak in her. If Zaza could speak, I am sure she would have a lot of adventures to tell. As a young kitten, she did a "me Tarzan" stunt, flying off the top of the stairs straight down to land onto the dining hall floor. She was still in 1 piece when we picked her up, but the experience must have 'muted' her, coz she's never mewed since that day. Instead she tells us what she wants with her paws; she would tap insistently on her bowl at chow-time, or she would hop up to a chair and lay a paw on my arm at the dining-table. But the most amazing thing about Zaza was the time she wandered off, probably itching to see the big world outside, and didn't return. We prayed and prayed, but after some 2 months, gave her up for a goner. Till one fine day, long after we had stopped praying, she turned up at the doorstep, a stinky bundle of bones and dirt. There were wounds and scars on her, which meant she must have gotten into fights. Truly a wild prodigal come home, but she never ran away again; I think she must have learnt her lesson well - that it doesn't pay to stray.
A pity though, about those that did and never came back; such a waste of life. A lot like humans, I guess. No wonder Jesus told no less than 3 stories about the lost - a lost sheep, a lost coin and a lost son; all very precious to the respective shepherd, owner and father. Roll all these characters into 1 and we see the heart of God who loves us so so much....we are each so special to Him He would leave all the other 'sheep' to go after that 1 lost individual 1. And just as the owner swept her whole house looking for her coin, so too God leaves no stone unturned to find us, no matter how far we stray or hide.
I used to think all the stories were the same; until I studied deeper, and saw that whilst the shepherd and the owner both went out of their way to search for their lost possession, the father simply waited, and waited and waited. He didn't withold his inheritance even tho he knew giving it to the son would in effect mean losing the boy, yet he didn't compel him to stay, neither did he chase after the wayward kid. The son would never know how many days and nites his father spent sitting and staring off into the horizon, hoping everyday to catch a glimpse of him returning. The son never saw the tears the old man must have shed, praying for his very soul. Neither would he ever understand his father's anger and frustration at the silliness of his actions in desiring freedom away from the person who loved him so. The father knew the son would have to learn the hard way; like any wise parent would sigh, kids must be allowed to fall by themselves so as to get some sense knocked into their (thick) skulls. But the part I liked best about Jesus' story was the reaction of the father when finally he spotted the repentant son trudging home - he literally flew down the path to greet the boy, and not 1 word of recrimination, not so much a squeak of "See, I told you so" instead the best of everything in the house was bestowed upon him. Man, he even threw a party to celebrate the prodigal's home-coming. Me, I would have let the guy stew awhile first.
Ahhh, such is the grace of Love divine. 3 pictures of God's infinite patience with the sons and daughters of rebellious man, who are so prone to run away. He will not give up on us even tho we give up on Him. "If we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot disown Himself"(2 Timothy 2:13)We will never know how much God grieves for us when we stray into death's clutches. What poignancy there is in the shortest verse found in the New Testament - "Jesus wept" when Lazarus died (John 11:25)
Our Zaza and Eli found their way back. Some of our lost pets however never made it back home, and unfortunately there's nothing we can do about it; they are truly lost forever. Thank God with humans, it needn't end like that. He made it so simple for us to return - He gave us Jesus. Unlike straying pets, we are never so lost that we cannot be found, it's only whether we want to take the hand of Jesus and follow Him home, where we belong.
"For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost." Luke 19:10
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