The Difference Between Dog Theology and Cat Theology

I'm sure you've likely heard the joke:

Question: What is the difference between a dog's theology and a cat's theology?

Answer: A dog perceives that you are the one who feeds them, takes care of them, grooms them and gives them a home, so they believe that you must be god! A cat on the other hand, sees that you feed them, take care of them, groom them and give them a home ... because THEY must be god.

Yes, my friends will see that this is indeed a joke in line with my taste in jokes. But for me, this one goes a bit deeper.

The dogs are those who completely trust that what you tell them is truth. This is how we should be!

[Jesus said to his disciples] "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me." John 14:1

I know, there are times when its mighty hard to trust in someone you don't see standing right in front of you, here in this place we mistakenly call "reality". Those of you with dogs, have you ever noticed how without seeing you coming, they know that you ARE coming? My wife and I have a dog named Rosie. Rosie isn't exactly the sharpest crayon in the doggy crayola box.

She is strong however. In the ten years we've owned Rosie, she's broken two chains and slipped out of her collar so many times I can't recall. If she does this during the day when I'm at work, when I come home in the evening, she's sitting at the end of our driveway waiting for me. If she does this in the night when we're sleeping, when I come out in the morning to feed her, she's sitting at the front door looking up like "Here I am! Ready to face the day!" I finally bought a chain that can also be used for things like towing cars and a collar I'm fairly sure could double as a safety harness for circus performers, so Rosie hasn't slipped out of these ... yet. (I would have included a .jpg of the wiley beast, but I realized that I don't have that one in my photobucket account)

Rosie also likes to do something I find interesting. I'll come out to feed her, I'll put the food and water in their respective dishes, and I'll move out of the way so she can get to them. But, Rosie won't go to her food until I have taken a moment to pet her. So, I'll give her ears a tossing and pat her sides, and she'll be happy as a clam and turn to her food. This only proves a problem when its wet out and I'm in my work clothes. I've had a couple of occasions where an overly joyful dog has forced a wardrobe change.

Cats on the other hand, are in it for what they get out of it. So, if you're going to witness to someone who is cat-like, you need to show them the value of what you are offering.

"In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you....And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am." John 14:2,3

Not just that God will provide a place for us, but that He loves us so much that he wants to!

Growing up, my Mom had a small menagerie of cats. At one point, we had ten of the furry critters living in our house. One of the oldest cats was an old tom Mom had named Sam. Mom had found Sam in downtown Indianapolis one evening as she was getting off work. Back in that day, there were very few residential buildings in downtown Indy. So it was not a question that this dark gray ball of fuzz, who at the time was a barely weened kitten, was most likely abandoned by someone.

Now Mom used to ride the bus to and from work, and it was against their regulations for you to bring any pets on board. Thankfully, my Mother was the sort of woman who carried a purse that you could feed third world nations out of. Mom decided she would simply slip the kitten inside her purse and pray that it would stay quiet for the 40 minute ride home. As if he understood what was going on, as soon as Mom put Sam in her purse, he settled right in. In amongst Mom's make-up, tissues, and sundry purse stuff, little Sam wrapped himself into a little ball and went fast to sleep.

Once Mom had Sam home however, there were issues. Sam was a small kitten, and Mom had two other cats (Foggy and Mittens) and a big slobbery cocker spaniel. (yeah I know, cockers are small dogs ... but to Sam, Godfrey was HUGE) So, Sam would hide under the kitchen sink. It took weeks for Mom to coax Sam out to eat food. But with time, Sam came out. Because my Mom showed Sam that all she wanted to do was to love him (granted, the dog would always be a problem, but Sam learned many tricks to deal with Godfrey).

So this is how we all are with God. We're either dogs who immediately accept the love of our Father, or we're cats who need to be shown God's love in such a way, that we're willing to trust Him, no matter how loud the dog's barking in the other room.