Protecting the Weak

The weather in Ohio is on its usual rollercoaster ride of twenty to fourty degree rises and plunges. The result has been a half frozen pond in my back yard.

Sure, it's pretty. It's also dangerous.

My cats have no notion of ice thickness and safety issues. Even if they have ended up soaking wet before, they still do not learn. Frank just came in with his back end wet. He's eight years old.

Yet, they still plead to go outside. They go from door to door begging. They annoy me with their meowing, then beating up on each other.

It's easier to just let them go out, risking their poor decision making abilities.

Easier isn't always the best choice. A long time president of a local university often included a quote in all of his talks about "taking the harder right and not the easier left." At the time, I found it somewhat repetitive. The result is that I still remember, further learning the truth of it.

What is the right answer? Let the cats live within a reasonable 95% success rate of outdoor fun and exercise? Or keep them inside where they are 100% safe (and 95% bored)?

What do you do if you see a friend making poor choices? Do you let them go or do you tell them they are heading for a brick wall?

God lets us make our own decisions, rarely orchestrating circumstances to pluck us away from danger. We can't turn around and ask why when we've been allowed to act freely.