Staying Teachable

I don't have a particular Scripture to attach to this post, although the Golden Rule definitely comes to mind. I happened to be scanning the local news headlines and came across this story in the Glendale News Press. My dad's cat, Riley, would probably get along well with this particular feline. I guess it's a week for us to learn from cats.....

EDUCATION MATTERS:See others as they see themselves
By DAN KIMBER
Published: Last Updated Thursday, January 29, 2009 10:03 PM PST

The older I get, the more inclined I am to accept life lessons wherever and whenever I can find them.One of our cats, for instance, has taught me something that I’ve always known but occasionally need to be reminded of. But before I mention what deep insight came to me, let me try to describe the animal in question. And for all of you who gag on pet stories, bear with me until the end.

Seventeen years ago, our female Calico cat, Fluffy, gave birth to four kittens. One of them was a replica of her mother, and so the ladies in my house (I had nothing to do with this) named her “Baby Fluffy.” I protested. What cat will answer to a human calling out, “Baby Fluffy, here Baby Fluffy.” But I was, as I often am, overruled.

We eventually came up with a more appropriate name based more on the cat’s bizarre behavior. Right from the get-go, this cat was jumpy and uneasy with her surroundings. From the day she opened her darting eyes she indicated a strong aversion to people, scampering under tables and beds whenever anyone tried to pet her. We thought it might have had something to do with the fact that a fairly large earthquake struck on the day she was born, but the other three kittens, for whom we eventually found homes, were typically cuddly, domesticated animals.

We renamed Baby Fluffy, “Schizoid,” (Skitz, for short). Virtually everyone who has been to our house and seen this cat has agreed that she was well named.We couldn’t find a home for Skitz, as she did not show well when prospective owners came by to look her over. I toyed with the idea of getting some cat Valium (yes there is such a thing) to mellow her out, but eventually we came to the conclusion that this little bundle of nerves was ours to keep.Until recently Skitz has been an outdoor cat, preferring to keep us all at a safe distance. She eats the food my wife faithfully puts out for her every morning and perches each day on a kitchen window sill just staring in at us. We’re used to it, but it sometimes creeps out friends who casually glance out the window and meet her steely eyes.

While Skitz doesn’t like people, she’s quite fond of dogs. Big dogs, little dogs — she never met one that she didn’t like to rub up against. That is so un-catlike, but stranger yet is her relationship with birds. Once or twice a year we’ll observe her stretched out on a patio lounge while two or three birds take turns strafing her back. I’ve seen birds do this before, and it usually means that they’re scrounging around for nesting material. I’ve never seen a cat, though, that seemed to enjoy the experience. This one just reclines and doesn’t move during the dive bombing. I tell you it’s one crazy, mixed-up cat.

Lately though, a change has come over Skitz. She actually wants to come inside the house these days, and for the first time in 17 years, she’s even letting us pet her. About a month ago a true miracle happened that had everyone in the family staring in disbelief. The cat actually jumped up on my lap while I was watching television and purred! Never once had it shown any sign of affection to me, nor had anyone in the family ever heard it purr. We called it a Christmas miracle happening as it did only a few days after that day.

All of this got me to thinking about some of the people in my life, past and present — people who I have written off/disregarded/put into a convenient category of “not worth the effort.” I wonder how many have rubbed me the wrong way, or seemed aloof or incompatible or in some way outside of my circle of acceptance? How many Ebenezer Scrooges are in each of our lives, looking to break free from their contrived selves, looking just to find a friend? How many Skitzes are out there, weird and strange as they can be, who need only for us to see them for what they are and not for what we think they should be? How many of us are intolerant or impatient in failing to understand that lives will unravel in their own way and in their own time? How many of us are willing to admit that their strangeness, when you get right down to it, is not much different from our own?

DAN KIMBER is a teacher in the Glendale Unified School District, where he has taught for more than 30 years.

URL: http://www.glendalenewspress.com/articles/2009/01/30/columns/gnp-kimber30.txt