What Pets Can Teach Us During the Coronavirus

About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them.

                               --Acts 16:25

     We have two cats, but I’m not a cat person. Ever since the day we discovered that I’m allergic to them I’ve looked at them as the enemy of my health. Do you like cats? I’m willing to admit that some cats are okay.

Ginny

     Last night we put both cats outside. The weather was warm, so we didn't think it would do them any harm. Ginny took the opportunity to explore, hunt, and exercise. She loves to catch things and bring them to the back door or stash them in her collection under the deck. The latest unfortunate creature she added was a short snake. It was slightly less cute than the large-eared gray and white mouse she brought us a couple of nights ago. We are waiting for that terrible day when she proudly presents us with the gift of a dead baby bird from the nest in the maple tree. So, it's reasonably safe to say that Ginny likes being outside. I'm not good enough at reading felines to say she prefers it to being inside. She seems just as content curling up on Sam's dog bed or pretending she's a rabbit--hopping around and chasing a toy mouse in the house. Basically, she seems content wherever she happens to be at the time. If Heidi ever had that noble characteristic, it is long gone.
     Heidi has been with us for seven years--a gift from friends who already had two cats. For reasonable people, two cats are enough and they were quite reasonable. Now, reasonable is not a word I would use to describe our older cat. Neither is 'content' for that matter. While Ginny was making the most of her outside opportunity last night Heidi wasted the whole night as far as I can tell.

Heidi

     I've been up a lot during the nights this past month with back, leg and foot problems (that's a whole story in itself). When the pain keeps me awake I get up and hobble past the back door to the kitchen. Last night was particularly sleepless so I was up even more than usual so I can say I'm pretty certain what Heidi did all night long. She sat looking through the glass into the house wishing desperately to come back inside. As the darkness gave way to first light her patience wore thin and she started meowing. She continued without interruption until she was let in more than two hours later.
     It occurred to me that people can be like either of our two cats. Some take life as it comes and make the best of whatever situation in which they find themselves. Others can't enjoy their current situation because all they can think about is wanting to be somewhere else doing something else. They "meow" in different ways but the message is still the same.
     When we look at the Bible characters we see that there are some who aren't to blame for their situation, like Job or Paul and Silas in prison. Job cried out in sorrow and pain for God to answer him. It seems unfair to call that 'meowing.' He suffered a great deal.  So did Paul and Silas in Acts 16. They were beaten with rods and thrown in prison. Instead of 'meowing' they began singing and proved that they could rise above their unwelcome circumstance. Their response to difficulty was so extraordinary it astonished the jailer who begged them to tell him how to find that same ability. Others, like kings Ahab and Solomon spent all their energy meowing through the glass trying to find contentment by getting what they didn't already have.
     As we live through the Coronavirus social distancing rules some of us will react like Ginny and some like Heidi. We may not get to choose our circumstances, but nothing can take away our ability to choose how we react to them. In every difficulty, there is an opportunity for those who are determined enough to find it.