"Playing" God and Baptizing Cats

Recently we crossed paths with a homeless, hungry, scared addict at Wal-mart.  She was given some money for food and our phone number if she wanted more help.  Last night she made the call.  But in the midst of mega drama, her hiding from her pimp or boyfriend or whatever he is, him supposedly beating on her as she was trying to get away, us trying to find her at Wal-mart to take her to dinner, hear the rest of her story and help her...she got paranoid.  And hid, then changed her mind, then wanted help, then got scared again, then hid again.  One hour and two trips into town later, we had to let it go.  Later in the night she said she'd leave but only if we took her back to his place to get her stuff first.  I'm not exposing myself to that sorry excuse of a man who was beating on her just a couple hours earlier.  Today she is back to wanting help, promised to go to a rehab, but doesn't want a ride there.  Wants some cash first, rehab later.  We can't give her cash knowing it would go to more drugs.  Food we can do.  Helping find shelter we can do.  Driving her to a safe place or rehab we can do.  But she has to be willing to meet us, to want to help herself, to want to change.  As much as I want to scoop her up and fix her poor, sad broken life, I can't.  Only God can truly change lives.  

While on lunch break today I took a hike in the woods and was praying for her and pondering what I could do.  It's one of those things I had to hand over to God and let go.  Thinking about it made me think of a story from when I was very young.  Another time when I thought I could "save" someone...or something.

Growing up we had an outdoor momma cat and some kittens that were a few months old. Somehow I became completely convinced that this whole family of cats was in dire need of baptism. And I was the person chosen to "help" them. I grew up with an intense list of sins, sins that in reality were mostly human appointed rules.  My cats were breaking several. I wasn't allowed to wear pants, forget pants, the cats ran around naked!  And we weren't supposed to eat unclean meats, while the cats would have eaten bacon daily if given the chance.  And Sundays? That was a day of rest, not to be outside playing or eating at restaurants, again the cats in willful acts of sin and rebellion, continued to hunt and play on Sundays. Surely they needed saving from their many transgressions.

After filling up a 5 gallon bucket with water I proceeded to round up the kittens. Momma cat refused to participate, but the kittens were too stupid to realize that they were about to be "saved." Ceremoniously I lifted the first kitten, sat up straight and in my best "preacher voice" announced "I now baptize you in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit!" And put the kitten in the bucket of water.

I knew I had said the proper words but the kitten screeched, clawed and fought to not go under. Now having attended an independent Baptist church until age 5 (at which point our family joined a cult, true but different story) and having been "properly" dunked in the independent Baptist fashion myself at age 4, I knew this partial wetting of the kitten was not sufficient for its salvation. In my mini self-appointed God-like status I had put myself in, I had to fix that.

Looking around I found the bucket lid, pried the kitten's claws off the buckets edge and while sympathetically but desperately trying to explain to it that I had to finish baptizing it the correct way, I slammed the lid on.

Next I (somewhat) gently shook the bucket to insure a complete water-soaked dunking. As I opened the lid it literally flew out of the top of the bucket and went running far, far away. To this day I do not know how it propelled itself so high or so far.

The remaining kittens sat close by, oblivious to their impending salvation....or doom, depending on how sorry you are feeling for the kittens at this point in the story.  And just in case they had decided to slip out of "church" my little brother, whom I had ordained as my deacon/usher, was on guard to keep my mini parishioners from escaping.

This whole process was then repeated for kittens #2 and #3 before I decided that the remaining kittens weren't worth my scratched arms and attempts at salvation!

So, while we can be light to others, we can pray for them, we can help, we can share God's love and we can share the truth, WE can't save people.  We aren't God and He is our ONLY way of salvation.  Tonight I continue to pray for "Wal-mart" girl....and I promise not to "play" God and half drown her in an attempt to save her!