I may not have much time in the next two weeks to write much, as I have two chapters of a book on Women in Ministry that are due. There was some confusion as to the due date, so all of the sudden I am very far behind schedule and have to turn in the chapters early next week. That means my blog will probably be quiet for a while. This entry was basically ready, so I am putting it online. No time for photos, however! Wish me luck finishing up my other writing. See you soon...
Ants and Cats Don’t MixMy house in Brazil had a peculiar problem. Somewhere there was an ant’s nest that we couldn’t find, with the result that I had ants everywhere in the house. The ants even ate through the cement that held my tiles on the walls. If there was even a crumb of food left around, the whole area was black. And these weren’t ordinary ants. They were the kind that bite and sting. More than once I ended up hollering bloody murder when they bit my finger or toes. I had to be really careful to put everything away. Unfortunately, this was a problem for Baby and Dolly. Perhaps you know that cats like to eat a little bit at a time, so you always leave their food out. The ants thought this was just great. It was a wonderful food supply for them. When my cats tried to eat, the ants stung them and they jumped back. Soon they were afraid to eat and began to lose weight.
I had to come up with some kind of solution, but nothing seemed to work, until I remembered that the ants hate water. So I put their cat food in a deep bowl and then set it down inside another bowl filled with water. If the ants tried to get to the food, they had to “swim” in the water. Of course they drowned trying and I had solved the problem. The solution to the ant problem, created another one. Baby and Dolly had long been accustomed to eating out of the same bowl at the same time. This new bowl was deep, but not wide and only one cat could eat at a time. Where there are two hungry cats, watch out!
Since Baby was the biggest, he quickly ran to eat, but Dolly didn’t sit by patiently waiting to eat. She quickly stuck in her paw to pull out some food. (Strangely enough, that is how Dolly likes to eat. She usually picks up the ration and eats it out of her paw.) That irritated Baby who began to growl and before you knew what was really happening, the two of them were fighting. Several times their fighting over the food caused the dish to tip over into the water, which made the food spoil. If I didn’t notice it right away, the two of them went a long time without food.
It seemed as if Baby was thinking something like: “If Dolly gets food, then I lose!” Dolly happened to be thinking the same thing. So they both lost and went hungry. Sometimes it seemed like we were going to have an eternal fight between them. They reminded me of an athlete I heard talking once. She said; “I don’t go into any championship in order to lose. The only thing that counts is winning.” For her there are only two things that happen in a competition. One person wins and the other person loses. That athlete was thinking just like Baby and Dolly.
I, however, think differently. I think that two people can win or two can lose. In the case of my cats, when they fought over the food, both of them ended up losing.
Just to prove my cats are not stupid, they eventually worked out a solution. Now Baby eats first, which makes sense because he is very chubby and is always hungry. While he is chewing his food, Dolly puts her paw into the dish, takes out some pieces of cat food and spreads it around on the ground. She then picks up a piece at a time and eats it as she wishes, while Baby sticks his head down in the dish. The two of them learned to cooperate with another, each waiting their turn. Both of them end up winning, because they can eat as much as they want, without fighting. It is a win-win situation.
If cats can learn to cooperate, why can’t people? Instead of fighting over who is winning or who won the game, why not just have fun and enjoy playing with your friends. Instead of insisting on being first in line, why can’t everyone wait their turn? Instead of having to be right and have things your way, why can’t everyone work together for the best solution to a problem? The Bible teaches us that we “co-workers” together with God (1 Corinthians 3:9). Why can’t we just try cooperating more and competing less? I always find it a lot more fun to be with people who cooperate than with a group of grumpy people who are always fighting. That must be much more pleasing to God’s eyes as well.
Since Baby was the biggest, he quickly ran to eat, but Dolly didn’t sit by patiently waiting to eat. She quickly stuck in her paw to pull out some food. (Strangely enough, that is how Dolly likes to eat. She usually picks up the ration and eats it out of her paw.) That irritated Baby who began to growl and before you knew what was really happening, the two of them were fighting. Several times their fighting over the food caused the dish to tip over into the water, which made the food spoil. If I didn’t notice it right away, the two of them went a long time without food.
It seemed as if Baby was thinking something like: “If Dolly gets food, then I lose!” Dolly happened to be thinking the same thing. So they both lost and went hungry. Sometimes it seemed like we were going to have an eternal fight between them. They reminded me of an athlete I heard talking once. She said; “I don’t go into any championship in order to lose. The only thing that counts is winning.” For her there are only two things that happen in a competition. One person wins and the other person loses. That athlete was thinking just like Baby and Dolly.
I, however, think differently. I think that two people can win or two can lose. In the case of my cats, when they fought over the food, both of them ended up losing.
Just to prove my cats are not stupid, they eventually worked out a solution. Now Baby eats first, which makes sense because he is very chubby and is always hungry. While he is chewing his food, Dolly puts her paw into the dish, takes out some pieces of cat food and spreads it around on the ground. She then picks up a piece at a time and eats it as she wishes, while Baby sticks his head down in the dish. The two of them learned to cooperate with another, each waiting their turn. Both of them end up winning, because they can eat as much as they want, without fighting. It is a win-win situation.
If cats can learn to cooperate, why can’t people? Instead of fighting over who is winning or who won the game, why not just have fun and enjoy playing with your friends. Instead of insisting on being first in line, why can’t everyone wait their turn? Instead of having to be right and have things your way, why can’t everyone work together for the best solution to a problem? The Bible teaches us that we “co-workers” together with God (1 Corinthians 3:9). Why can’t we just try cooperating more and competing less? I always find it a lot more fun to be with people who cooperate than with a group of grumpy people who are always fighting. That must be much more pleasing to God’s eyes as well.
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