God is God, and I’m NOT!

We finally let our 14 year old kitty go. He suffered from either IBD or FLV, the Vet wasn’t sure which. It was hard to turn loose but it had reached that time. I’m really going to miss him, he was a special guy. But then, I’ve been blessed with many special fur babies for over 2/3d’s of a century now and I still remember and miss each one of them who’ve gone on ahead. I believe they are all awaiting my arrival at Rainbow Bridge and in the mean time are just enjoying each other; happy, romping, playing and basking in the eternal warmth and sunshine though one or a few of my Labs may be occasionally enjoying a dip in one of the creeks, too.

So, what’s behind the title of this post? Sometimes I question the validity of modern science, particularly medicine, and wonder if we tend to try and subvert God’s will by our own capabilities. “Tuff,” that was my kitty’s name, in his prime was as stunning a cat as you could imagine. He was large, strong, lithe, graceful, rather pretty to gaze upon and had a most endearing personality and attitude. He was the total package, but in the last year or two had begun declining rapidly. We would take him to the vet, get him “shot up” with B-12, Steroids and Antibiotics and he would perk up for a time but the trips became more frequent, the lows were lower and the highs successively weren’t quite as high as before. It was to the point we were hand feeding him anything he’d eat, mostly people food, were sometimes giving him water thru a syringe so he would stay hydrated and he was being dosed with oral steroids daily. And… through all that effort, each morning he was still with us. By sheer strength of our will, we kept him going. But, was it fair to him? I guess I finally came to the conclusion I was being selfish. Since I was bigger and stronger and more knowledgeable; I/we, were subverting a natural course created by The Father and forcing our will to supersede for a time.

I will admit it was a couple of days after letting him go when the thought crossed my mind that I was playing the role of a god in Tuff’s life. I was feeding him and making him stronger for a bit. Through my sheer force of will he was still with us. I was refusing to let him go. That realization didn’t fill me with pride; but rather I felt myself much less for those actions.

God, in His infinite wisdom, has a much better plan than we are capable of producing and each time we get in the way, in retrospect, we are poorer for it. Bubba, Tuff, that last lesson you showed me was a doozy. Thank you for being such a part of my life and allowing me to learn it at your expense. Say “Hey” to everyone there and let them know they’re still cherished and missed. Be sure and hook up with Dodi, y’all ‘gonna make a great pair, just don’t be too hard on everybody else. LAAF.