Editor's Note ‘He’s massive! He’s so cool’ By Darcy L. Fargo

Oct. 12, 2022

I sometimes forget how big he is.

I currently have three oversized cats. According to the veterinarian they see, none of them are overweight.

They’re just big.

Pippin is the biggest of them all. He weights nearly 18 pounds. His head is the size of a softball, and his nose is as wide as my thumb. Standing on the kitchen floor, he’s able to pull his dish down from our standard-height counters with his paws or mouth as we’re loading the plates for kitty mealtime. He’s tall, he’s long, and he’s solid.

Because we’ve lived with oversized kitties for years, my husband, son and I almost forget how extraordinary “the boys” are.

Recently, Pippin had an appointment with the vet. As I’m lugging him and his oversized carrier into the veterinary practice, I ran into someone I know. We were exchanging greetings when she stopped mid-sentence.
“Look at the size of your cat! He’s huge,” she exclaimed. “Look at my cat compared to yours!”

She held up a small carrier with a very small juvenile cat. Her little kitty was less than half of Pippin’s size.

Getting into the vet’s office, the technician soon greeted us and opened the carrier. Pippin very casually walked out and immediately approached the technician ready for attention.

“Look at this big guy! He’s massive! He’s so cool,” was the response.

Every single person who saw my cat that day remarked on his size. Pippin was enjoying his celebrity status as person after person greeted him, and I found the whole situation rather entertaining. As I said, I forget that he’s huge. I see him every day. He’s not huge to me. He’s just Pippin.

Thinking about our fun vet visit (not something you have every day), it occurred to me that I apply that same concept to God sometimes. Sometimes worship, prayer, even celebrating the sacraments feels almost commonplace. I take it for granted. I take God for granted, and I forget how big God is.

Then, like a visit to the vet reminds me my cat is unusually large, something comes along and reminds me how incomprehensibly huge and loving our God is. For me this week, it’s been experiencing the beauty of God’s creation (those leaves are incredible right now), experiencing God’s love in forgiveness and graces extended to me, and a experiencing a series of incidents pointing out that God loves me when I’m at my best, when I’m at my worst and everywhere in between.

Yet I still sometimes forget how big He is.