Oh The Humanity

The internet is a wonderful invention. It has improved human life and the quality of life in literally trillions of ways. However, in everything that’s good there must be some bad. The internet allows people to hide anonymously and lose their humanity. Comments that are completely devoid of compassion, empathy, human feeling are made by mothers, fathers, doctors, policemen and others who in day to day contact would never say that to someone’s face. They bully people, beat up on rape victims. In fact Law & Order did an episode where an online “social justice mob” lead to murder. We’ve seen instances of suicides where people have been pushed over the edge. We’ve seen countless instances of how the internet can be used to bring out the worst in humanity.

The internet turns cowards into heros. On the internet there are far more sites dedicated to catching humanity at its worst than to celebrate the wonderful things that occur daily in our lives.

But, we have the power to change that.

With the cats, they do bad things but we forgive them. If they could type, would Jean-Claude post snarky comments on a site about how his mom didn’t give him wet food for two days? Would Roxie post some message about how her Grandma leaves her during the day and she has to sleep on the bed alone?

No, they wouldn’t. They would recognize that they are blessed beyond measure. Today, I will celebrate something good I see in someone and cast aside the negative. It’s easier to be negative than to be positive. Being positive requires more thought, more discipline but once you start thinking the good, you’ll find that it’s easier. Positivity pushes out negativity. Positivity will act as a barrier that negativity can’t cross. The thing about negativity is that it brings you down, but by doing something for someone else. Being kind, celebrating goodness we can counterbalances what’s out there bombarding us.

The Catfather – Dedicated to Pirate

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Cats sometimes like to bring their owners little presents. Years ago my sister “Li” owned a black cat named Pirate. Pirate used to like to roam in the woods behind Li’s apartment building. He sometimes brought home a little present, an empty can of yogurt, a dead bird, and small dead mouse. For Pirate it was love and my sister seemed to understand.

One of my coworkers told me the other day his young daughter had been particularly fond of a cat who only seemed to have love for her and her alone. The cat slept in her bed nightly, under the covers , that was until the fateful day the cat– out of love ?? — left a headless bird in her bed. Yep, the little girl pulled back the covers, just like in the “The Godfather” movie and there was the decapitated birdie. The family soon purchased a new mattress for the distraught little girl who after some months found love again for her feline friend although he was no longer allowed to sleep in her bed.

Sharing

So if you’ve been reading this blog then you know that there is an orange cat that hangs out at my house that runs with Jean-Claude. the other night, I saw this cat watching me from my neighbor’s porch, so I decided to feed it. The cat knows that I’m somewhat friendly but still somewhat tepidly approached my porch. In the end, the cat devoured the can of food I put outside, but didn’t want to take the water.

There are actually two orange cats that hang outside of my house. One is a longhaired cat and the other is a short-haired cat. The short-haired orange cat actually ran into my house once when I was taking out the trash.

A Time of Growth and Renewal

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Jean Claude is sitting at my back porch steps after some early morning conversation with my neighbor Bonnie’s dog “Six” and another dog across the alley. 7:30 am in the morning. Kind of loud Spring is his favorite time of the year it seems.

Safety Concerns

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Roxie, the Japanese bobtail, and Jean Claude, the black Bombay, spent part of their morning this morning poised on top of a chair looking through my front living room window. They still are not that comfortable in their usual morning spot at my bedroom window. I think I’ve mentioned I have had some challenges lately with the roof over my bedroom ceiling. A roof blowback, then collapse. A tarp has been placed over the roof and it rained heavily last night. I could hear the splatter and I was afraid. Still as if to comfort me Roxie sat in her spot which is just below the hole in the ceiling where the ceiling caved. By the way before the tarp was placed on the roof, Roxie wouldn’t go near her spot. She would look at me and then look at the hole and look at me and look at the hole and walk away. She senses the tarp and it brings her comfort. There’s been a lot of rain and wind lately. Folks in my neighborhood have seen trees and roofs collapse. Lots of repairs, lots of roofers.

I think about wind, rain and roof issues and the people of Japan. Their bravery, their steadfastness – inspire. Their visible grief – heartbreaking. Prayers of safety and restoration to the people of Japan. May God provide them a tarp of safety, blessings and peace.