A calico cat that just wanted a cozy place out of the wind to take a nap ran into all kinds of trouble. It found the spot by jumping into the back of a pickup truck and curling up in some loose straw. In the warm sunshine, the cat soon fell fast asleep and didn’t even notice when someone got into the truck and drove away. The truck drove to the outskirts of town and onto the Odabushian Bridge, which crosses the mighty Columbia River. It is a giant of a bridge, built very high.
As the truck crossed the bridge, a semitrailer blew his horn. The noise of the horn blast startled the cat, and it jumped out of the pickup truck and hit the pavement with a thump. The cat rolled and slid to a stop and lay stunned in the middle of the bridge. The cars traveling behind the pickup truck screeched their brakes and veered to the side, barely missing the ball of fur on the pavement.
Cars and trucks whizzed by the cat. When it came to its senses, it tried to escape off the dangerous roadway of the bridge. It dodged one way and then the other in the traffic and nearly ran into the tires of moving vehicles. Car horns blared at the cat. Frantically the cat sprinted to the edge of the bridge and was about to leap off when it suddenly discovered the bridge had nothing beneath it except space and blue water far below. The frightened cat had stopped itself just in time! With no place to escape, it sat curled up on the edge of the great bridge!
An older couple crossing the bridge in their car had seen the bewildered cat at the edge. They called the animal control department on their cell phone to report the unfortunate animal.
For half an hour the calico cat sat scrunched up at the edge of the bridge before the animal control workers arrived. They parked their truck next to the railing of the bridge, pulled on their gloves, and made their way slowly towards the cat. These men knew it would be a difficult rescue, because the cat was badly frightened. One false move, and the startled animal might fall to its death below.
At last they were able to gather the cat into their arms. They carefully carried it back to the truck and gently placed it into an animal crate in the back of their pickup.
The story might have ended happily there, but the workers did not close the gate of the crate fast enough. The cat became alarmed and bolted out of the crate, took a running leap over the side of the truck . . . and over the bridge railing as well!
“EEEOOOW!” they heard the frightened cat’s scream as it fell, hurtling through space to the Columbia River seventy feet below. The men on the bridge saw the cat hit the water with a splash. The cat disappeared beneath the water, and everyone watching thought it was the end of the cat. But to their surprise, the cat surfaced and started swimming madly!
The Columbia River is quite wide, and the cat had over six hundred feet to swim if it was going to make it to shore. The onlookers on the bridge watched as the brave little cat was spun around in one of the eddies on the river as the current carried the cat downstream. Its head, barely above the water, made it difficult for the cat to see which way to swim. When it began swimming the wrong way, everyone watching thought the cat would never make it.
Then, seemingly out of nowhere, a man in a kayak appeared and paddled out to the cat. Using his small boat to gently push the cat, he helped guide the cat to shore. Finally, when it seemed the exhausted cat could not swim any farther, one of the animal control men waded out into the river and picked up the cat. The cat was brought to a veterinarian where it was given good care and recovered from its frightening day. According to the news, no one has stepped forward to claim the cat. The authorities were hopeful they still might find the owners before putting it up for adoption.
There were at least three different times that day when the calico cat might have died tragically. Even though it’s not true, people sometimes say that “cats have nine lives,” because it’s not unusual for outdoor cats to get into trouble, but it seems most of them manage to escape alive. As a result, some say that cats have “nine lives,” but it is certain people only have one. In that one life, God wants them to come to the Lord Jesus Christ so He can save them from their sin problem. People may have all sorts of trouble in life, and sometimes these troubles may come one right after the other. However, the greatest of all the troubles we face is that we are sinners before God, who is holy and just. “All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:2323For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; (Romans 3:23)). At the end of their lives, sinners will be sent away to a place of everlasting punishment called hell. That is why it is so important to come to the Lord Jesus. He loves you and is the only Saviour this world of sin will ever know. When we believe on Him as the Son of God who died for our sins, we receive the forgiveness of every sin and the gift of eternal life. “Be it known unto you . . . that through this Man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins: and by Him all that believe are justified from all things” (Acts 13:38-3938Be it known unto you therefore, men and brethren, that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins: 39And by him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses. (Acts 13:38‑39)).
ML-07/02/2006