Herding Cats

Herding Cats

I confess that cats are not my favorite household pets. Although I have had a few over the years, I still prefer dogs especially Shelties. Cats have a mind of their own and don’t take to being told what to do. They are not easily intimidated by loud threats or scolding. They like to cuddle and snuggle but only when they decide. No, dogs are a lot more to my liking.

There are two exceptions to my cat feelings. They were not cats that I lived with but ones I observed from a distance. I met Elmer back in 1974 while moving from Minneapolis to Bozeman, Montana where we going to manage a ski lodge. Hauling our earthly possessions in a U Haul, Judy and I stopped in Medora, North Dakota for the night. When I went into the office to register for a room, an overweight calico cat was napping on the counter. This was Elmer’s perch. With those big feline eyes he checked out anyone who came in the door. You could pet him and he would purr but nothing more. Elmer of Medora is probably no more but he was a cat with a class act.

Fang was a whole different kind of cat. I met Fang early one winter morning.  I was making breakfast for our lodge guests. I happened to look out the window. There, on the very small ledge, sat this huge, grey Angora cat. As I looked closer, this cat had one eye gouged out and only one large tooth that hung outside his lip. This was a wild cat that had seen better days. He appeared on the windowsill every morning. After awhile I built a shelf so he could sit there comfortably. I could not touch him but he loved my pancakes. Fang is no more. Somewhere along the way he fell to the bottom of the food chain.

Several years ago, I saw a video on the Internet. The title was “Herding Cats.” If you haven’t seen it, I encourage you to look it up. It reminded me of pastoring. In fact I showed it at one of our Sunday services. Not an easy job to get everyone going in the same direction.

The Bible records in the Book of Judges a time when Israel was in disarray. “At that time there was no king in Israel. People did whatever they felt like doing.” Sounds like a lot of cats to me!