Parables of the Pastor’s Cats

How Much More

We lost one.

We had five little puffball kittens, maybe two weeks old, all brown and cuddly. Their round little ears were still pasted back, and their eyes were just opening.

One was a bit of a runt, much smaller than the others. At first we thought he was just developing slowly, but after a while we couldn't ignore the drastic difference in size.

Sometimes a kitten will just not make it. Maybe they are too sick to survive, or too weak. But we couldn’t just sit and watch a kitten waste away. We tried to feed this little one from a bottle. We held the kitten in a blanket and urged it to take a little more milk.

But we couldn’t save it. One morning we found the kitten outside the box. During the night, it had died. 

It wasn't much to look at. Like the rest of the litter, it was an undistinguished brownish color. A most ordinary kitten. So small. Just one among many.

Who would notice?

As I stood by the makeshift graveside, I remembered a promise from long ago. Jesus had mentioned it to people who gathered around to hear him speak.

He told them about small brown creatures, very small, very ordinary.

He was talking about birds, but I think the same principle applies. 

When a sparrow falls, God sees.

How much more will he watch over a kitten?

They are small creatures, these sparrows, and dreadfully ordinary.

And yet if one tiny bird among many were to fall, God would see. God would care. And no matter how many sparrows fall in a day, God knows each one.

But as remarkable as that is for sparrows, the point is that God loves someone else much more.

Not kittens. Better.

He loves you.

Don’t be afraid, Jesus said. You are worth much more than sparrows.

We still have four small brown puffball kittens from the same litter. They are the survivors. And there are more kittens to come in the next litters. Two cats are still expecting, after all.

These may prove to be the best kittens ever, may live longer, jump higher, and purr more loudly than any other creature. But God promises that each life, no matter how brief or ordinary, is just as valuable. Every sparrow, every kitten, no matter how tiny or ordinary they may be, each one is surrounded by the same love.

So how much more will God watch over you? That’s the important question. How much more?

You are worth more than many little kittens.

And I have to tell you, that’s a lot of love.