There is an old lady who was eighty years old last year. Let us call her Auntie Yong. She was almost a teenager when the Japanese overrun her country. Her dad passed away before World War Two. Her mum was an iliterate rubber tapper who struggled to bring up five children. The entire family had to hide in the jungle and was forced to plant vegetables and roots to keep themselves alive.
Auntie Yong was sick most of those difficult months. She had slow fever, often had chills even at high noon, her feet swelled ... In modern terms, she probably had anemia and was malnourished. Her kidneys were probably overworked and as a result weakened. Her mum loved her and went to ask old ladies for folk medicine to heal her. Things often worked for a little while, but then the symptoms would return, with a vengeance.
That was until the loving mum started trading her valuables for meat. Once a hunter traded part of a monkey carcass with a tea set from China. Another time Mum traded a golden hair pin for two bats. And so Auntie was fed periodically on wild cat, rat, squirrel, wild boar, even dogs and cats that were unlucky enough to be caught.
Years later, Auntie Yong was afraid of cats. As children, they used to play with the cats they kept to catch mice. They particularly loved one that had yellow fur. They called it the Yellow Emperor. She suspected that cat was slaughtered to keep her alive. Perhaps it was guilt, maybe the childish way of fear took root in her heart. She avoided cats from then on.
And my god will supply all your needs according to His riches in Christ Jesus. Phi 4:19
cat.jpg from internetvideomag.com
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