In my December post I wrote about how I had learned that even the smallest life is important, and that everyone on this earth was placed here with a role to play. (Go ahead, I'll wait for you here.) Today I would like to continue that theme and show another side of what keeps those of us in feline rescue motivated to always continue. It's a message that I will use Spatz to illustrate.Spatz is a black and white kitten (now cat) who on the outside seems fairly unremarkable. He looks like many other kittens/cats that have passed through Cat-Dad's rescue/foster home. Like so many others, he and his sister, Sahara, came from an animal shelter where they had been sent because no one wanted them. Sahara was a dazzling tortoiseshell beauty and every eye was immediately drawn to her. She and Spatz shared a room in Cat-Dad's home with two other kittens rescued from another animal shelter. These two were brothers, and like Spatz and Sahara, also had had their mother taken from them.
Of the four kittens, Spatz was definitely the least self-confident. But behind his shy and introspective manner could be seen a distinctive trait of caring for others. When all the kittens went to adoption events, people admired and played with the others, but Spatz seemed always to be left out. They were getting their forever homes, but not Spatz. Soon he alone remained, still living in foster care.
Then one weekend just before Christmas, a couple came to the adoption event. They were searching for a very special kitten to join their family, one who could help their young son to learn responsibility. Spatz was excited yet frightened to be chosen for such a role. He had seen how small boys could sometimes be overly rough with kittens. Cat-Dad knew this also, and in such cases went to much further lengths in qualifying a family before he would ever release one of his charges for adoption.
After much evaluation, he was eventually able to assure Spatz that this family, including the little boy, would be kind to him. In fact, Cat-Dad said, this family had been attracted to Spatz for this mission because of those very qualities of introspection and caring. Not only was Spatz to be a loving friend to this little boy, but it would be his task to set in place the foundation of a value system that would long outlive his brief time on this earth. He was being chosen as a "life coach" in the true sense of that term!
Cat-Dad explained that this was a very great charge to place on his little shoulders, because little boys grow up to become young men. And just like kittens, their personality and value system are shaped during this critical stage of life. Young men eventually become leaders who direct the making of national or corporate policy. They make laws and rules concerning how others are to be governed and treated. The love and companionship of a wise and compassionate cat while children are growing up will be instrumental in shaping their regard for all sentient beings.
So here was Spatz; a tiny introspective kitten, discarded as an infant and then overlooked by most everyone because of his shy nature. How easy it would have been for him to just give up and believe he was worthless. Yet to Spatz was given one of the most important charges a kitten could ever receive. Truly he now has a life that makes a difference and that will ultimately leave a legacy in the character of the human that he is raising.
If you sometimes are discouraged or are tempted to think you're nothing special, I would implore you to remember this story of our little Spatz. Every life has value so much greater than you know, and your potential to be a positive influence and leave a worthwhile legacy does exist. I believe in you, and in the truth that one life will always have the power to make a difference.
With love for all,
Noel
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If you have men who will exclude any of God's creatures from the shelter of compassion and pity, you have men who will deal likewise with their fellow man.
- St Francis of Assisi
