Otto Earns His Keep

April 28, 2020.  Day 43 of Quarantine

​Beloved:
            Given how I trash-talked him last Tuesday, it seems fitting Otto get top billing today.  In respect of other people’s sensitivity I’ll not post a picture of the corpse, but never have I been so glad to see a dead chipmunk on my garage floor, laid out as a sacrifice upon an altar.     
            Until he died two years ago, I had no idea how much time and effort our previous cat Simba devoted to patrolling and protecting my flowerbeds from chipmunks.  Since his death, they have invaded and destroyed not just planting, but even the underground structure of my beds.  For his part, Otto acts as if nothing interesting has happened, but I’m planning some extra treats for later, sprinkled near the chipmunk corpse to convey my gratitude and hope that he will go hunting again, maybe start a real collection.    

Later this morning a friend of the deceased arrived to pay his respects.

​            If my pleasure at the death of such cute creatures disturbs you, I’m guessing you’ve never had to rebury drainage tile or restack retaining stones due to damage inflicted by creatures the size and weight of a small potato.  Once Otto establishes his perimeter, they will move outside it, just like they did with Simba, who rarely had to kill once his dominance was established.  When he first came to live with us, Otto imagined he would lord it over the chickens.  He learned, as did the dogs, to respect the hens’ perimeter or get bloodied.  Peace by pecking order reigns in the backyard as much as anywhere.   ​

            The world today is ruled by a virus, one cell of which can make a human being deathly ill.  Our disrespect of its dominance will destroy life and civilization as we’ve known it for generations.  So, for now we will respect it by staying home, washing our hands, and learning ever deeper levels of patience with one another, confident that life will not be like this forever, because soon enough science will do what modern science has done every time a disease proposed to lord it over us.  Soon enough scientists will bring forth the science to shelve this virus in the same vault as smallpox, polio, and diphtheria.  When and where there are breakouts, science will descend the way Otto descends on a chipmunk in my flowerbed. 
            And in the meantime, we will keep diligence, faith, and good humor – knowing that the God who made us sustains us now and keeps Their promise to keep us close no matter what the future holds. 
 
~ peace & prayers,
pastor annette  ​