Have you ever owned a cat? More appropriately, has a cat ever owned you? If you’re too ashamed to admit that you’ve lived in total submission to a furry feline, you might want to check out CPA — Cats & Paws Anonymous. I understand it’s a great 12 step program.

Our daughter, Kathleen, once owned a cat named Tiger Lily. I personally saw the telephone that the cat totally destroyed. I don’t mean the cat knocked it on the floor and it wouldn’t work. The cat chewed through the cord, then chewed the entire phone into small pieces!

Our family once had a black cat named Pepper. Pepper was quite a cat. For one thing, she was allergic to fleas. Can you believe it? Allergic to fleas! One of our children had to bathe and dip Pepper every single week or her life came into jeopardy.

Most people called her Pepper. I called her “R.C.” which stood for “Retarded Cat”. She’s the only cat I’ve ever known who would have cheerfully chosen to live in her own litter box! In fact, one of her favorite tricks (?) was to carefully place her head and front paws in her litter box. Then she’d cheerfully perform her natural function on the carpet.

It occurs to me that
there are other kinds of litter boxes.
Let’s explore some before we quit.

• I often get frustrated with the scope of our abuse to our one and only earth. The rain forests are disappearing at an alarming rate. As the rain forests disappear, we are losing oxygen-producing trees, species of plants and animals that might help us find medical cures for various diseases.
• An oceanographer recently stated that there is so much human and medical waste awash in our oceans and on our beaches, that we could easily see a dramatic increase in serious diseases.
• Our land fills are on overload. These landfills contribute enormously to the pollution of our underground water supplies. 40 year old newspapers have been discovered in landfills that look as fresh and readable as today’s paper. Styrofoam products may never disintegrate. Their production causes holes in earth’s ozone layer!
• Companies frequently discharge untreated, chemically-polluted water back into our streams, lakes and bays. Do you believe there will never be another oil spill in pristine waters?
• Have you ever seen trash come flying out the window of a vehicle ahead of you? Fast food wrappers, foam coffee cups, soda cans, gum wrappers…we could fill this entire page with stuff and not run out of trash we find along our streets and highways.
• One grocery chain is bragging about using bio-degradable plastic take-home bags. The manufacturer of these bags admits that they only degrade when exposed to direct sunlight. How much sunlight is available under tons of dirt at the landfill?

I believe we’re turning our planet into our litter box. During my travels I’ve seen the effects of man’s disregard for the fragile ecology of our planet. I’ve seen entire mountain ranges logged down to the bare earth. One area used to boast of redwood trees…some were seedlings when Jesus walked the earth. I’ve seen remote trout streams with signs stating that there are no more fish due to pollution. The north rim of the Grand Canyon is often invisible due to air pollution.

In southern Louisiana, I saw signs at every single public access point in the National Grasslands: Do not eat the fish, crabs, clams and crayfish caught here due to the effects of pollution. The earth is the Lord’s? With all the fullness?

But, hey, wait a minute. Many believe that this Big Blue Marble is some day going to go up in smoke anyway. So, what’s the big deal? The big deal is this: I don’t want to live in a litter box!

Furthermore, and far more important, have you allowed your life to become a litterbox of sorts? It’s pretty easy to do. No, we don’t back a garbage truck up to our minds and pull the lever. The litter accumulates a little bit at a time. An off-color story here; a raunchy movie there. We hear words coming out of our mouth that we surely didn’t learn at the feet of Jesus! The trash begins to pile up. The flies gather. The smell sets in. Other folks don’t want to get too close.

What’s the Life Lessons
for me in this Story?

• Life is full of choices.
• We have a choice about what kind of earth we’re going to live in and leave to our children and grandchildren.
• We have a choice about what stimuli we’re going to allow to come into our minds and hearts.
• In either case, we don’t have to live in a litterbox!

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