Mylon the "Party Cat"

DateLine (6/29/05 - Ponce, Puerto Rico)

We have always had a lot of cats around our house. Harriett likes cats and as our two girls were growing up I guess it was a natural that we have cats as pets. One spring I remember counting almost 30 cats that called our yard home (note this was an anomaly when several of our “momma” cats had litters all at the same time.) We had to do some tall talking to find homes for the extras and get back down to the 6-7 that normally hung out around the house.

Mylon was one of the most beautiful cats that was ever born to our “herd.” We gave her that name because she had the most beautiful long flowing hair much like one of my favorite contemporary Christian artists of the time, Mylon Lefevre, who was known for his long hair. Mylon’s early life was like any of the rest of the cats that were raised in our yard. A worry free existing filled with abundant daily rations of food (i.e. store-bought food, none of that table scrap stuff.) It’s always bugged me to open the front door in the morning and to have to step over several lazy cats on my way to work. Cats at my house have absolutely no responsibility and no pressure. Occasionally I would notice that the cats would supplement their premium diet with a little added protein in the form of a mouse, bird, or ground squirrel. I’m convinced that these catches were not from necessity but simply a sporting proposition that appealed to their primal instincts; just for fun. Sounds like the life huh.

Evidently this existence was not enough for Mylon. I don’t know why but Mylon began to disappear occasionally. Sooner or later she’d return and hang out with the home crowd only to disappear again later. Over time the disappearances stretched into months and the returns seem to last only a few days. I don’t know what was attracting her to leave and I don’t really know what was attracting her to return. Eventually we all came to the conclusion that something had happened to her or she had decided that some other sunny yard and food dish was more appealing.

Not too long ago a scraggly cat showed up at our food dish. At first this seemed like an interloper just passing through because I know in cat world we have to be famous for being a soft touch. After closer examination we realized that Mylon had returned home after having been gone for months, maybe a year or more, a faint shadow of her former beauty. The other cats in the yard did not seem to remember her. In her younger years she had been a little distant and not too open to human touch but now she would approach you as if to beg for a sympathetic touch. A few days ago I buried Mylon. She was so old and weak and in such sad shape she lost in a race across the road in front of a car.

What’s the moral of this story? God has a wonderful plan for our life. He makes tremendous provision for us. He allows us to hang out with Him as the closest friend. Even though at times life is tough he has promised to never burden us with more than we can stand. Sounds like an ideal existence. Some have called it the “abundant life.” In spite of all this sometimes people choose to turn their back on God and stake out their own path; the party life. God has warned us that this approach to living leads to death and destruction.