“If animals could speak, the dog would be a blundering outspoken fellow; but the cat would have the rare grace of never saying a word too much.”  Mark Twain

He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and regarded others with contempt: “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, was praying thus, ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people: thieves, rogues, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give a tenth of all my income.’ But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even look up to heaven, but was beating his breast and saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ I tell you, this man went down to his home justified rather than the other; for all who exalt themselves will be humbled, but all who humble themselves will be exalted.” Luke 18:9-14

When you begin to research how many sounds a dog can make verses a cat, you get a lot of different answers. Whether this is correct or not, I am going to quote one site that says cats can make around 100 different sounds, while dogs can make approximately 10. This does not mean that cats are smarter than dogs; it just means there are limits to their vocalizations. One site said dogs can hold their vocalizations for longer periods of time than cats. Another site said that cats rarely meow to one another – they keep the meows for their human pets. Before I had a cat as a pet, I thought cats made two sounds – the purr, and the meow. When it comes to feeding time in my house, I get chirps, trills, and other odd sounds from my cats. It sounds like I am feeding birds instead of cats.

In our lesson today, we have two people who have come to the Temple to pray. One goes on and on about how much better a person he is than those other sinners. The other says very little while confessing he is a sinner. When it comes to our relationship with G-d, G-d does not need to hear us try to convince G-d of the type of person we are – good, better or best. G-d already knows what is in our heart. What G-d would rather hear is what pains us – what frightens us – what doubts we have and what needs we have. In other words, G-d wants us to come to G-d like a child to a parent – someone in need of direction, advice and love.

Whatever the sounds we make when we turn to G-d, it pleases G-d to know we are seeking to be fed by G-d’s Word and presence.

Pastor Dave