Posted on by Lori Cartmell

Are You a Cat or a Dog?

It’s hard to embarrass a cat. They just don’t seem to have a sense of shame.

If they’ve done something naughty, like shredded the fabric on your expensive couch with their claws, they’re not actually sorry about it. They’re just ticked off that you’re making such a big fuss about it.

Cats seem to lack the ability to be repentant.

Dogs, on the other hand, can definitely feel and show contrition.

Just take a look at the plethora of “dog-shaming” videos online.

Dog owners upload clips in which they confront their mutts with the evidence of their misdeeds. The owners come home to garbage-strewn rooms, destroyed furniture, and chewed-up shoes. The disaster area is documented on video, and then the camera pans to the dog…

The results are often hilarious.

The mutt slinks off with its tail between its legs, or else sits there looking sheepish and trying not to meet their owner’s eyes. The pooch might even try to hide in a cupboard.

Yes, dogs know when they’ve done something wrong.

The question is, do we?

Are we quick to ask God’s forgiveness when we sin, or do we justify our behaviour to ourselves and continue in our disobedience?

Read more
Posted on by Lori Cartmell

You Were Meant to Soar

Image of European swift by Kev from Pixabay

What is the ultimate flying machine?

The Concorde? A high-tech fighter jet?

I’d suggest to you that the holder of this title belongs to the common swift.

The swift holds the record for the fastest confirmed level flight of any bird: 111.5 km/h (69.3 mph). (Birds like falcons can fly faster, but only when diving down through the air to catch prey.)

Swifts also spend most of their lives on the wing, landing only to nest. Some individuals can spend up to ten months in continuous flight. In a single year a common swift can cover at least 200,000 km. No other bird spends as much of its life in the sky.

They are truly astonishing creatures.

A funny thing about swifts, though: they don’t do very well on the ground.

Their small, weak legs, which are placed far back on their bodies, are really only good for clinging to vertical surfaces like cliffs. They never voluntarily settle on the ground, where they’d be vulnerable to predation. Although swifts are capable of taking flight from level ground, they prefer to “fall” into the air from a high point.

Simply put, swifts were meant to soar.

And so were you.

But oftentimes there are things inhibiting our flight…

Read more