The Elusive Playmate

As a child, I grew up in the Borough Park section of Brooklyn, NY. It was during the 1970's and humans were not the only residents on my block. The spaces between the homes were occupied by cute, furry creatures whose baby-like cooing just melted my ears. Cats! Oh and how I just wanted to make a friend and playmate with at least one of them.

I begged my Mom for permission to scoop one up to bring home. But my Mom sharply retorted, "I'm raising children, not pets."

Her response got me wondering, "But I do not yet have children. So, don't I need a pet?" Of course, I completely misunderstood her. She simply meant that she's running a human-only household. 

Accordingly, I resigned myself that a feline playmate would have to be an outdoor one. So, in my childish way I tried all sorts of overtures to attract one. I offered to pet and cuddle to the end of time. I chased them with assurances that I only meant friendship and would not hurt them. No matter how I pleaded and negotiated, I got only one response. They dashed away with a speed that my self described "athletic legs" could not match.

I felt so rejected! None of them wanted me as a playmate.

Then one day, something which felt so special happened. I met a cat who did not run away. I picked her up and petted her. I spoke to her and she meowed back. It felt like the bond I so yearned for was forming. I was so "in love".  Yes, here was an ambassador from the world of cats who felt for my rejection and compassionately came forward to accept me.

Late one long and sunny afternoon, while playing with "my cat" and hugging her, from behind came an old man's admonishing voice, "Leave that cat alone! Don't you see she has a broken leg."

My heart sank as it dawned on me that the cat did not want me after all. She was just unable to run away. If she could have, she would have rejected me like the rest of them.


A Thought

The deeper significance of this story has eluded me until very recently. Still, all these years it served well as a "Little Daddy" story to amuse my children with.  Maybe, in the future I will share it with my grandchildren as well.

What recently dawned on me is that the story illuminates one of the key reasons why God gives us the freedom to choose to be in a relationship with Him. Wouldn't He find it kind of sad if we entered into a relationship with Him, just because we couldn't "run away"?

Accordingly, He placed us in a bubble of space/time, a physical realm, which allows us the illusion that we can "run away". We do not need to be in a relationship with him unless we want to. Only under such conditions, there's an opportunity for the relationship to be real.


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