Tuesday, July 24, 2012

The case of the flying cat

I came across an interesting story the other day. It's supposed to be true: it gave the name of the man whose church it was and all.

A Christian minister had a kitten at home. The kitten climbed a tree in the garden and was too scared to come down. All attempts to tempt it down failed. Then the minister had a brainwave.

The tree was too slender to climb, but if he tied one end of a rope to the tree and the other end to his car and moved his car, it might bend the tree sufficiently for him to reach up and grab the cat.

He moved the car little by little, getting out each time to see how he was doing. Just a little more, he thought, and we've done it.

As he moved the car for the last time, the rope broke, the tree snapped back into position and the kitten sailed through the air and disappeared.

The minister searched the area and asked if anyone had seen the kitten, without success. Eventually, he committed the cat into God's care and went back to work.

A few days later, he met a woman church member in the supermarket. He saw cat food in her trolley, and he knew she hated cats. "Why are you buying cat food?" he said.

Her young daughter had been begging for a cat, and she had refused her. Her daughter persisted. Finally, she said "Well, if God gives you a cat, I'll let you keep it."

She watched the child go out into the yard, get on her knees, and ask God for a cat.

"Pastor, you won't believe this, but I saw it with my own eyes. A kitten suddenly came flying out of the sky, paws outspread, and landed right in front of her."

There was a comment at the end of the story: Never underestimate God's sense of humour.

I felt I could have thought of a better comment.

Never underestimate the prayers of a child.