Vox Pop - Writer says ‘Cats are people too’

Vox Pop

Dear Editor Wilson: In response to your comments last week concerning 'dangerous times' and speaking to pets as a form of comfort and assurance I dare say there are dozens of your readers who took issue with those sentiments. Perhaps it was an awkward (and frankly lame) attempt at humor, which in itself was inappropriate, given the context. My sister, for one, who lives alone and is quite fond of her feline companion, would no doubt have been appalled, had she bothered to read The Star News this week.

The tragedy that unfolded in Gilman last week was shocking even to us here in Ohio, who have become a bit callous to such things, having relocated to an urban area from rural Indiana, where things like this don't happen but once a decade, if ever. A weekend hardly passes here, in which someone is not murdered, or a suicide is discovered. Prayer has not become the last resort, but an ongoing daily attitude; this world is NOT a safe place, no matter who's wearing the crown. The folks in Tallahassee discovered that yesterday, just as you folks in Taylor County realized last week.

As I write this, we are remembering the death and burial of our Messiah, Jesus Christ. It has been a Good Friday; and that day was the BEST Friday in all of human history: the moment at about 3 p.m., when the God-Man cried 'Tetelestai!' (it is finished, the debt of sin is paid in full). We all now have the free gift of forgiveness and eternal life available to us, through faith in Christ Jesus. Go ahead, talk to your dog, cat, or whatever comfort animal helps you cope with daily reality. But my prayer for you and all the folks in your town, county, state, nation, and world, is that you would talk to the real Comforter, the Good Shepherd who laid down His life for His sheep. That is eternal reality.

— Phil Tice, Springfield, OH