The night was windy, and a freezing rain slanted down. Pepper, Eliezer, and Amiga snuggled on the back porch. Pepper chewed a bone while Amiga played with Eliezer’s tail. Abigail crouched under a bush in the backyard. Wet, cold, hungry, and angry, she was miserable inside and out. How she despised the pets on the porch. A savage growl rumbled in her chest. She riveted her gaze on the cat dish. She must have food. She needed it now.

As she approached, Eliezer stood and fixed her with an icy stare. We don’t need you here, he seemed to say. We’re content and we all love each other. We don’t need a smelly, irritable cat messing up our warm camaraderie. And with that he drove her off into the night.

It was all so unnecessary. There was plenty of room on the porch and lots of food in the dish. Four companionable bodies would have generated more warmth than three. No one needed to be out in the cold on such a night. So who was to blame?

A group of believers enjoy their cozy church fellowship. A troubled teen from the community comes to church. Unkempt and disheveled, he slouches sullenly on the back bench. Those seated nearby notice an unpleasant odor and slide a bit farther down the bench. Many shudder at the thought of such a wretch messing up their cozy brotherhood. The youth may not look the part, but he is a sensitive person. He ducks out the back door as the pastor pronounces the benediction. He will remain in a cold, dangerous world, unprepared to meet his Maker, and who is to blame?

Christ promised to make believers fishers of men, and they do not fish exclusively for sinners who smell good.

Our call is to seek out the souls of men,
But if they are ugly and mean, what then?

From Paws on My Porch, by Gary Miller
© 2015 TGS International, PO Box 355, Berlin, Ohio 44610
Used by permission