Tex’s Thought Provokers 009
Do Like The Animals Do
As many of you know, over the years I have spent a lot of time away from home. I often receive comments like “it must be something else to get to see all of these places.” To which I reply; “Well…I might just as well be out over the hill from my place…cause all I really get to see is fire and stuff that the fire has burnt. There is one thing though…it’s the folks I get to meet, from all over the world. The down side to that is…on fires you get really close with people in a hurry…then you may never see them face to face ever again.”
The other thing as I reflect on it, is the time missed with my family. Those are missed times that are very hard to make up for.
In order for me to do this, I have to have a very understanding wife. And believe me, she is. The kids, well they just didn’t seem to know anything different, they just grew up with it and all, it is what I am and what I do. So they never really got to wound up over my being gone all the time.
On the other hand, there is Meiko. You know, our dog that I spoke to you about in an earlier writing. He is a smart dog, not insane, and he seems to get his tail in a knot when I go away. Oh I am not saying that he does bad things or gives my wife a hard time. There just seems to be a difference in his attitude when I come back home.
He goes through stages with me. The first thing he does is go to barking like crazy when he sees me. He kind of tilts his head off side ways and more or less sasses me, so I call that bark his sassy bark.
Then I will go and pet him, and he wags his tail, and lets on like he is glad to see me. But I can tell that he is really not all that fussy on it one way or the other, indifferent if you will.
Then as I walk away from him, he will turn himself side ways and he will give me what I call his disgusted look. That one turquoise eye seems to burn a hole right though me.
However in a day or so he is back to normal and after he is clear of his snit, he warms up to me and shows me his love.
Now then, we also have four cats, first we have Ginger Bug, he was a scrawny little thing when we brought him home, and he grew into a giant eating machine, he reminds me of Garfield the cartoon cat in a lot of ways. His attitude is the same that is portrayed by Garfield, indifferent to everything. He is even the same color.
Next we have a pure bread Siamese seal point cat and we named him Moglie. In his case, it shows that I will do just about anything for my wife. We drove to Phelpston Ontario to retrieve him and it was a quite an episode. But that is another story.
At any rate, Moglie is a beautiful specimen of a cat, and he loves to talk. He has beautiful intense blue eyes and he loves to stare at you, and while does, his eyes wiggle back and forth, kind of makes him look a bit schizo.
Then came Annie, she is a pure bread Siamese blue point. She is the most loving cuddly creature. She will lay in my arms and stare at me for hours. My wife found her frost bitten and starving, as close to death as she could be without being dead. I really don’t think she would have made it through the night had Rhonda not brought her home. After many trips to the Vet, and a few fitful-sleepless nights for me, nursing her back to health, she is just fine now.
Then we just couldn’t resist, we got Cloie. We brought her home because friends of ours had several kittens to give away and they weren’t getting many takers. The shelters had all sorts of cats, in other words full up, no room at the inn. So we got to thinking about the what ifs, and we decided, what the heck, what’s one more?!?!
Now Cloie is special, she has seven toes on both front feet. The softest fur and so gray she almost has a silver shine on the tips of her hair. She is the kind of cat you just want to pick up and hold. But Cloie has an entire different concept of being held. She does not like it even a little bit. And she will let you know it with all 24 claws!
Now you know a bit about my cats.
When I am away from the cats, and when I return, I get a varied reception. Ginger Bug is pretty much the same, unless I come in the house wearing a hat. Then his eyes bug out and he goes into run away and hide mode. But after a bit when he realizes that it is me, he goes back to normal and heads strait for his dish and begins staring at me, giving short little meows, then turns in a circle several times, sits down and continues to stare at me, trying to will me into feeding him, he is always hungry.
So I guess, he really doesn’t miss me all that much. He just misses the easy food while I am gone; he has me figured as a push over.
Moglie rubs up against my legs and talks to me more than normal.
Annie walks between my legs and seems to smile all the time.
And Cloie just stares at me then takes off chasing anything that moves. Just does it out of the blue, for no apparent reason.
It has been said that animals are just that, and there is not much we can learn from them. I beg to differ. Talk to any good hunter, and he will undoubtedly tell you about following the big buck deer. Then of a sudden the hunter finds that the big buck deer has circled and he is following the hunter.
No, I contend that animals do have the capability to reason and I do believe we can learn much from them if we take the time to look.
Some of what I have learned from my pets alone is what follows.
· We do not own our cats, they own us.
· Our pets can be upset with us, but they always forgive us unconditionally. No matter how many how many times we upset them, they always forgive us. Even as many as 77 times.
· They do not hold grudges against us.
· Meiko is very protective of Rhonda and the kids. I know beyond all doubt that he would gladly fight to the death, giving up his life to protect them.
· Our cats detest being alone. If we are in one room, they have to be there. They hate shut doors. If we are in the garage for example, they will all four set on the steps waiting for us. When we come in, there they are patiently waiting. They have a need to be with us.
· All of them enjoy attention and here is where I see jealousy come out in their personalities, especially with the cats.
· They crave our love and they unconditionally love us back. No matter what it is we have done. They love us. I think they know the feeling is mutual.
· They do not care about material things.
· Their needs are very simple, food, shelter, water, LOVE.
· They do not care about what others think. They only care about us.
· Especially Meiko, just wants to please us. The cats don’t seem to give this much thought.
· They do not mean to or want to disappoint us.
· Their love is real.
· They trust us completely.
So if we really think about what animals can teach us, there really is a lot. Consider the following;
13 So these three things continue: faith, hope, and love. And the greatest of these is love. 1 Corinthians 13:13
21 Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, when someone won’t stop doing wrong to me, how many times must I forgive them? Seven times?” 22 Jesus answered, “I tell you, you must forgive them more than seven times. You must continue to forgive them even if they do
wrong to you seventy-seven times.” Matthew 18:21-22
27 But earthly food spoils and ruins. So don’t work to get that kind of food. But work to get the food that stays good and gives you eternal life. The Son of Man will give you that food. He is the only one qualified by God the Father to give it to you.” John 6:27
19 The way they live is leading them to destruction. They have replaced God with their own desires. They do shameful things, and they are proud of what they do. They think only about earthly things.
Philippians 3:19
Yes animals are humble creatures that can teach us a host of things. They love and want to be loved. They don’t hold grudges, except perhaps Wolverines, but they are hateful animals that are likely the pets of “Old Blister Brain”.
So if animals can do all these simple things, and they are “so called dumb,” what does that make a lot of us?
Mark Twain (Samuel Langhorne Clemens) once said; “Man is the only animal that blushes…and the only one that needs too.”
So long for this time and I leave you with this.
24 Kind words are like honey; they are easy to accept and good for your health. PROVERBS 16:24
Until next time may the Lord fill your hearts with a new love and respect for all things created by God.
Tex
Do Like The Animals Do
As many of you know, over the years I have spent a lot of time away from home. I often receive comments like “it must be something else to get to see all of these places.” To which I reply; “Well…I might just as well be out over the hill from my place…cause all I really get to see is fire and stuff that the fire has burnt. There is one thing though…it’s the folks I get to meet, from all over the world. The down side to that is…on fires you get really close with people in a hurry…then you may never see them face to face ever again.”
The other thing as I reflect on it, is the time missed with my family. Those are missed times that are very hard to make up for.
In order for me to do this, I have to have a very understanding wife. And believe me, she is. The kids, well they just didn’t seem to know anything different, they just grew up with it and all, it is what I am and what I do. So they never really got to wound up over my being gone all the time.
On the other hand, there is Meiko. You know, our dog that I spoke to you about in an earlier writing. He is a smart dog, not insane, and he seems to get his tail in a knot when I go away. Oh I am not saying that he does bad things or gives my wife a hard time. There just seems to be a difference in his attitude when I come back home.
He goes through stages with me. The first thing he does is go to barking like crazy when he sees me. He kind of tilts his head off side ways and more or less sasses me, so I call that bark his sassy bark.
Then I will go and pet him, and he wags his tail, and lets on like he is glad to see me. But I can tell that he is really not all that fussy on it one way or the other, indifferent if you will.
Then as I walk away from him, he will turn himself side ways and he will give me what I call his disgusted look. That one turquoise eye seems to burn a hole right though me.
However in a day or so he is back to normal and after he is clear of his snit, he warms up to me and shows me his love.
Now then, we also have four cats, first we have Ginger Bug, he was a scrawny little thing when we brought him home, and he grew into a giant eating machine, he reminds me of Garfield the cartoon cat in a lot of ways. His attitude is the same that is portrayed by Garfield, indifferent to everything. He is even the same color.
Next we have a pure bread Siamese seal point cat and we named him Moglie. In his case, it shows that I will do just about anything for my wife. We drove to Phelpston Ontario to retrieve him and it was a quite an episode. But that is another story.
At any rate, Moglie is a beautiful specimen of a cat, and he loves to talk. He has beautiful intense blue eyes and he loves to stare at you, and while does, his eyes wiggle back and forth, kind of makes him look a bit schizo.
Then came Annie, she is a pure bread Siamese blue point. She is the most loving cuddly creature. She will lay in my arms and stare at me for hours. My wife found her frost bitten and starving, as close to death as she could be without being dead. I really don’t think she would have made it through the night had Rhonda not brought her home. After many trips to the Vet, and a few fitful-sleepless nights for me, nursing her back to health, she is just fine now.
Then we just couldn’t resist, we got Cloie. We brought her home because friends of ours had several kittens to give away and they weren’t getting many takers. The shelters had all sorts of cats, in other words full up, no room at the inn. So we got to thinking about the what ifs, and we decided, what the heck, what’s one more?!?!
Now Cloie is special, she has seven toes on both front feet. The softest fur and so gray she almost has a silver shine on the tips of her hair. She is the kind of cat you just want to pick up and hold. But Cloie has an entire different concept of being held. She does not like it even a little bit. And she will let you know it with all 24 claws!
Now you know a bit about my cats.
When I am away from the cats, and when I return, I get a varied reception. Ginger Bug is pretty much the same, unless I come in the house wearing a hat. Then his eyes bug out and he goes into run away and hide mode. But after a bit when he realizes that it is me, he goes back to normal and heads strait for his dish and begins staring at me, giving short little meows, then turns in a circle several times, sits down and continues to stare at me, trying to will me into feeding him, he is always hungry.
So I guess, he really doesn’t miss me all that much. He just misses the easy food while I am gone; he has me figured as a push over.
Moglie rubs up against my legs and talks to me more than normal.
Annie walks between my legs and seems to smile all the time.
And Cloie just stares at me then takes off chasing anything that moves. Just does it out of the blue, for no apparent reason.
It has been said that animals are just that, and there is not much we can learn from them. I beg to differ. Talk to any good hunter, and he will undoubtedly tell you about following the big buck deer. Then of a sudden the hunter finds that the big buck deer has circled and he is following the hunter.
No, I contend that animals do have the capability to reason and I do believe we can learn much from them if we take the time to look.
Some of what I have learned from my pets alone is what follows.
· We do not own our cats, they own us.
· Our pets can be upset with us, but they always forgive us unconditionally. No matter how many how many times we upset them, they always forgive us. Even as many as 77 times.
· They do not hold grudges against us.
· Meiko is very protective of Rhonda and the kids. I know beyond all doubt that he would gladly fight to the death, giving up his life to protect them.
· Our cats detest being alone. If we are in one room, they have to be there. They hate shut doors. If we are in the garage for example, they will all four set on the steps waiting for us. When we come in, there they are patiently waiting. They have a need to be with us.
· All of them enjoy attention and here is where I see jealousy come out in their personalities, especially with the cats.
· They crave our love and they unconditionally love us back. No matter what it is we have done. They love us. I think they know the feeling is mutual.
· They do not care about material things.
· Their needs are very simple, food, shelter, water, LOVE.
· They do not care about what others think. They only care about us.
· Especially Meiko, just wants to please us. The cats don’t seem to give this much thought.
· They do not mean to or want to disappoint us.
· Their love is real.
· They trust us completely.
So if we really think about what animals can teach us, there really is a lot. Consider the following;
13 So these three things continue: faith, hope, and love. And the greatest of these is love. 1 Corinthians 13:13
21 Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, when someone won’t stop doing wrong to me, how many times must I forgive them? Seven times?” 22 Jesus answered, “I tell you, you must forgive them more than seven times. You must continue to forgive them even if they do
wrong to you seventy-seven times.” Matthew 18:21-22
27 But earthly food spoils and ruins. So don’t work to get that kind of food. But work to get the food that stays good and gives you eternal life. The Son of Man will give you that food. He is the only one qualified by God the Father to give it to you.” John 6:27
19 The way they live is leading them to destruction. They have replaced God with their own desires. They do shameful things, and they are proud of what they do. They think only about earthly things.
Philippians 3:19
Yes animals are humble creatures that can teach us a host of things. They love and want to be loved. They don’t hold grudges, except perhaps Wolverines, but they are hateful animals that are likely the pets of “Old Blister Brain”.
So if animals can do all these simple things, and they are “so called dumb,” what does that make a lot of us?
Mark Twain (Samuel Langhorne Clemens) once said; “Man is the only animal that blushes…and the only one that needs too.”
So long for this time and I leave you with this.
24 Kind words are like honey; they are easy to accept and good for your health. PROVERBS 16:24
Until next time may the Lord fill your hearts with a new love and respect for all things created by God.
Tex
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