of being a cat whisperer

We have been graced with the presence of two cats, who have moved to Christchurch along with their human slaves (we all know who are the real owners in the human/ feline relationship).

Neither enjoyed the experience at first. In fact, one - Cairo - went so far as to hide under the house and meow pathetically at night - just to ensure we all understood how awful it was for her to be kidnapped away from her home. For three days, neither her human slaves nor my beloved and I could coax her inside. Things were getting desperate, or at least so it seemed to the women in the house. The cat was cold, hungry, sad: this was not how it was meant to pan out.

I am proud to say I came to the rescue. One the third night, I got up at 4:30am, opened the door and called the cat gently into the house; shivering myself, as it was wet and cold. And lo! Cairo the cat came in: snarling a little, but deigning me with her presence (the food bowl next to me may have helped: however as that fact may affect my hero status, I might have refrained from mentioning it to the others in the house). A happy ending; a saved cat, and a happy home!

The strange thing is that in Christchurch at present there must be hundreds, if not thousands, of hungry, cold and sad cats. Yet we have not gone to these same lengths to help them. Clearly, we only make such an effort for those cats we have gotten to know, and deem to be in some relationship with us. I'm not sure I would have hero status if I had proudly welcomed an unknown bedraggled feline into our home.

What is true for pets is true for people. It is hard for us to care for those we have not met and invested our emotions into. Something has to happen to move others from being 'people' (part of the crowd) to being 'persons' (part of our crowd). And here is the great weakness of many churches today: we invest all our time into those we already know, who so often are already in the house of God. These are persons to us: part of our crowd. But the people around us: the stressed KMart shop assistant, the bored child across the street, the lonely elderly neighbour; since we dont know them, we make little or no effort to invite them into the house of God. And so, like the stray cats in our city, they remain outside: cold, wet, unhappy, unfed.

This is not how Jesus called us to be. We are not meant to be inside the house, keeping warm and dry while others suffer. Instead, we are called to be people-whisperers; looking for the lost and the lonely. It's what Jesus commanded. Its what Jesus did. That means changing how we see the lost: changing them in our perceptions from people to persons. It starts by knowing their names; by discovering that the shop assistant is Julie, the child is Anji, the neighbour is Dorothy.

And it goes on to welcoming them into the house, where the air is warm, there is good food, and they know they have a place.

Time to shiver, just a little, to find the stray persons in our neighbourhood.