Parents, everything’s all catawampus. I had the great privilege, right out of seminary, of being a student minister to a group of smart, faithful and creative young Jesus followers, who were led by a wonderful group of student leaders.These groups stretched my faith and helped me grow in many ways. One of the students had a cat named… you guessed it, "Cattywampus." It may have been a sibling to "Kittycorner," but I don’t remember. There was usually a funny story about how Cattywampus had brought something disgusting to the door or had scratched something or someone. Everytime I hear the word “catawampus,” my mind goes back to that group of people and I am grateful.
Several days ago, someone left a bike in front of my house. When no one came to pick it up, I pumped up the tires and put it in front of my fence. The next day it was gone. So, I assumed the owner came back for it, or perhaps someone stole it. Some days later, my kids were walking one of the four dogs at my house and found this bike abandoned again in the Library parking lot. So, we brought it home. What is the old adage? If you let something go and it comes back to you it's yours to keep, if not it was never yours anyway...so we hold this wayward velocipede with open hands. This two wheeler was not a bad older bike, but it was all catawampus: the handle bars were all jacked up and loose, the brakes hadn’t been adjusted so it didn’t stop well, one of the tires had since been popped and it had sat out in the storms for several days so the seat was soaking wet. It also had a unique automatic shifter that changed gears when the pedal speed reached a certain RPM. I brought it inside the house and began fixing it up. I straightened and tightened the handle bars, adjusted the brakes, replaced the popped tube and wiped it all down. When I tried riding it around the cul de sac, it seemed to be just fine. It just needed a little TLC. I think I’ll name this bike… "Cattywampus," in honor of those wonderful people in GA.
When we get all catawampus and out of sorts from this pandemic, we need to return to Joy (Warner and Wilder). Joy is a much better motivator than anything else. You can see this in humans from the time we are infants. Just watch a baby when their mother begins to hold them up, look into their eyes and talk or sing to them. Their little eyes light up and their little legs begin to kick and they may even laugh, giggle or coo. They have to calm down a minute by looking away and then they want to be recharged again. Their parent looks into their eyes, shows them how glad they are to be with them and then laughs and talks to them excitedly. This fills them up with joy again. This energizes them to take on the tremendous task of growing up and living on this planet. At some point when the joy wanes, we humans have to find a source of joy, One that is not too busy or runs out of time or energy or runs out of joy themselves. The good news is we have a Heavenly Father who is always glad to be with His children… He never gets tired or runs out of joy or energy. So, when we are all cattywampus, we need to spend some time in God’s Word, talk to Him, listen to Him, seek Him, maybe sing to Him. We need a joy recharge so we can bring some joy to other people who need some energy to continue to take on the tremendous task of living on this planet.
The prophet Isaiah reminds us to make sure we take time with God on a regular basis and he says, “then you will find your JOY in the LORD, and I will cause you to ride on the heights of the land and to feast on the inheritance of your father Jacob." The mouth of the LORD has spoken.Isaiah 58:14 (NIV)
So, I will take some time with God, ride this bike named "Cattywampus" on the heights, and be filled with joy as I remember how my Heavenly Father is glad to be with me, and maybe I'll have enough energy to recharge someone else.
Hang in there people! God is with us! I’m praying for you all!
