An Itty Bitty Kitty Dies -- We Reflect on Death

A baby kitten died tonight of unknown causes. It was unexpected. It was sad. A tiny black cat of about 8 weeks old was left on our doorstep and for the last two days we lavished him with love and caring and tried to nurse it to health. It seemed quite thin and undernourished, but we tried to provide him with the means to survive. Our children, especially our 11-year-old boy, really took to the cause of caring for the kitty. The tiny cat seemed to like us, too, meowing with a unique, duck-like sound, and purring like a small, contented symphony.

But there must have been some fatal flaw in its fragile body, or some sickness we could not see. For Mr. Quackers, the itty bitty kitty, is no longer with us. He died in the night in his cage. My 10-year-old daughter noticed he was breathing funny and not moving much. I found him non-responsive, and before I could take him to the veternarian's office, he was gone.

I will bury the kitty in the morning in a special place near the back door. But his memory will live on. For in those two short days we saw a lot of life in that little cat, and he evoked a lot of love from my kids -- and my wife and I. Life is fragile -- and when you love anything, animals or people, there is a risk involved. But love is always worth it. These are lessons we hope our children learn. Anyone who has ever buried a pet knows the pain of saying goodbye to a little friend. My children are feeling that pain today.

Death always seems to come unexpectedly. Even when you expect it. Even when we are talking about people, not pets. Even when you know someone is better off to be in a better place, to be in the arms of God. As a pastor I have had the privilige to spend last days and moments with a number of people. It is always a sobering experience, sometimes joyful, usually sad at the same time, and often filled with a sense of the holy and the sacred.

But when it comes to the death of a Christian, I always take heart to what the Bible says about life after death through the blood of Jesus Christ. Jesus allows His story to become our story. As he rose from the dead, so shall we. That is Good News for any day. Even for a day when the little kitty cat died and my children cried. No matter what happens -- even in tragedies far greater than the loss of a baby pet -- we take solace in the fact that our God is on His throne.