Louie is a male Siamese cat, so you might wonder why he got flowers on Mother’s Day. Some background might be helpful.
Last Sunday morning I was peacefully reading with Louie on my lap, when Darlene came down the hall lamenting pitifully, “I don’t see my Mother’s Day card!” Not necessarily wanting to admit that I had forgotten, I told her: “I was just thinking right now about getting it before breakfast.”
Unconvinced, she persisted. “Did you forget? Why didn’t you get it Friday when you stopped at the store to get graduation cards for Reece and Kortnye?” I tried my best to explain that I was so eager to get home and be with her for lunch that I hurried out of SuperSaver without her card.
That didn’t work. Having been wizened by 36 years of experience as a married man, I recognized the need for immediate remedial action. I hurried back to SuperSaver and selected the nicest card. Then, to ensure I would emerge on the happy side of this situation, I splurged on flowers. A dozen red roses—long stemmed, of course.
Home again, I scribbled some kind comments on the card and presented it triumphantly to Darlene. Her appreciation multiplied at the sight of the roses. Immediately she placed them in her favorite vase on the kitchen table.
Mission accomplished! But then Louie entered the picture.
Ever curious, our year-old Siamese leaped atop the table and proceeded to bite and swat the roses. Darlene caught him red-handed and chased him down. Despite her rebuke, the cat was back in business seconds later. And for the rest of the day, and all this week, war has been waging in the Weber home.
Although privately amused at my cat’s antics, I have prudently sided with my wife in the battle over who owns the roses. I even uncharacteristically lectured the much-indulged cat: “Look, Louie, these are Mother’s Day roses—and you are a male feline, neutered even. You don’t even qualify for Father’s Day! Mother’s Day is irrelevant for you.”
Still, Louie is undeterred in his quest to conquer each of the roses, one by one. So far he’s winning, 8 to 4. His persistent arrogance reminds me of the fact that 4,000 years ago Egyptians worshiped cats, and the felines have never forgotten it.
Well, I guess I’m expected to sum up all this with a spiritual lesson. And here it is: “Let none of you think of himself more highly than he ought to think” (Romans 12:3).
So Louie, that’s heaven’s final word on the matter. Know your place in this world, and quit trying to make yourself the center of a situation that belongs to someone else.
