cattywampus
I don’t know about you, but there are just some things in the world today that are cattywampus! Yes, this word says it all: something is off kilter or askew. Many theologians, philosophers and prophets have told us that we are to watch for signs of the times. Newscasters announce disasters and catastrophic events. Educators, medical staff and politicians communicate that the world is wacky these days. We even have Wacky Wednesday! You may be nodding your head in agreement!
Whether it’s wild, wacky or weird - there is an answer to what to do about it all and change those adjectives into wonderful, warm and welcoming. In 1904, a headline from the New York Times caught my attention:
Commuter Carred Victim and Guildty Secret to New York
Apparently, a New York business man from New Jersey had a number of pigeons, but lost many of them to vagrant cats. He became so aggitated that he lay in ambush with a gun watching for stray cats. Sure enough, one emerged with a pigeon in its mouth. He shot and the cat was dead. The problem was that he needed to dispose of the carcass. He first thought of burying it in the back yard, but the neighbors might see him.
He decided instead to wrap the cat in papers and throw it off the ferryboat that he took to cross the river. The next morning he took the train and then boarded the boat where he was greeted by a group of friends. He realized he would have to do some explaining, so his plan was deterred. He thought he would toss the bundle into a trash can on the way to the office but someone was always gazing in his direction, including a policeman.
He went all the way to the office and locked the dead cat in a closet, vowing that he would take care of matters on his way home. But once again, on his return trip home, he met more acqaintances. He boarded the train, laid the package beside him and tried to read the daily paper. Reaching his station, he took the package and went home defeated. When he got home, he handed the bundle to the cook and told her to bury the cat in the back yard.
She took the package but returned a few minutes later.
“There’s been a mistake, Sir. This isn’t a cat. It’s a nice leg of mutton.”
Evidently, the man had picked up the wrong bundle when he left the train. He hoped that the person who reached home with the dead cat didn’t learn his identity.
Thankfully, we have our identity in Jesus Christ as believers! We don’t need to hide anything and He wraps His arms around us in love and comfort.
1 Peter 2:9 ~ “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.”
Galatians 2:20~ ” I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”