Daily Devotional: When Roxy moved in
"By contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against such things." — Galatians 5:22-23 NRSVUE
Shortly after I moved from Illinois to Northern Michigan, I decided to get a cat. Recognizing that cats do not have owners, but rather staff, I laid out three fixed-criterion for selecting the new master of my house.
One, I didn’t want a kitten. Yes, kittens are cute and cuddly and fun to watch play, but I didn’t want to hear it crying out of loneliness all night long, night after night, until it grew comfortable with its new digs.
Two, I wanted a cat that was friendly. An aggressive, ill-tempered beast with retractable claws is not a good housemate. Trust me on that one.
Three, I wanted a shorthaired cat. I didn’t want fur flying everywhere, clinging to my pants and filling my vacuum every time I cleaned the carpet.
As soon as I entered the area of the animal shelter housing cats, the one I would name Roxy became alert and followed me with her eyes. As I got closer to the cage where she was resting, she moved to the front while the others stayed back. She stuck out her paws and then her nose. When I petted her, she rolled playfully on her back.
When I have been responsible for hiring staff, friendliness is always my first rule. In the church, as with many places of work, we are dealing first, second and last with people. The virtue of genuine friendliness covers a multitude of imperfections.
So it came to be that Roxy, the Big Furry Orange Cat, came to live with me in my home. Yes, I jettisoned my third criteria. Two out of three from the list seemed just about right.
At work and play and in our home, what’s our first priority? Is it to be kind, gentle and helpful in any enterprise we are involved in?
Prayer: Lord, let me be the one who helps things move along pleasantly, wherever You lead me.
This devotion comes from the book, "Life Lessons from our 4-Legged Friends." It, and Rev. Dr. Michael Sanders’ other books of devotions, can be found locally at Ken’s Village Market in Indian River.
This article originally appeared on The Petoskey News-Review: Daily Devotional: When Roxy moved in
