Fate, Karma or Divine Providence

Everyone, meet Sam. Sam passed on to a better place this Thursday morning leaving me to ponder the meaning of life and why things happen. You had to know him to appreciate him. He was a dog in cat's clothing. People who didn't like cats liked Sam and he was known to convert dog people into cat people.

Sam was an example of Fate in action. You see, 5 years ago, on an impetous impulse, I went to the animal shelter. I was thinking about adopting a cat for my husband's birthday but wasn't completely convinced I really wanted to. I walked into the cat section, between the rows of metal cages with there sad, crying contents. Cats, kittens, all breeds, colors and sizes. One voice in particular seemed almost to call to me. As I approached the cage, I saw a rather large, male tabby cat pacing within. He turned in my direction and I was startled by his bright blue eyes, I had expected green or gold on a cat of his markings. He greeted me at the cage door with audible purring. I was astonished, strange cats don't act this way. I opened the cage and he practically leaped into my arms, he didn't struggle to be put down, but instead used my shoulder to prop his head upon.

There was a young lady in the lobby with her 4 year old daughter.
"Do you mind if I let her pet him?" I asked the mother.
I wanted to see how this cat would react to children as I have two children of my own.
"Sure," she replied.
I squatted down and placed the cat near the child's chubby little feet.
"Kitty!" she cried, grabbing two hand fulls of fur.
At this point, any ordinary cat would have bolted for the door, but not Sam. He accepted her rough attention and repaid it by rubbing against her legs while purring. He looked back to me with a look that seemed to say, "Did I pass the test?"
He came home with me that day and was with us for 5 wonderful years.

But why do I say that Sam was an example of Fate in action?

I went to the animal shelter on a whim. The hour in which I walked through the door was the very one in which he became available for adoption. A day earlier and he would not have been eligable. A week later and he would have been euthanised. I was meant to be there at that moment to find the perfect cat for me or rather to be the perfect human for him. So whether you call it Fate, Karma or Divine Providence, what it amounts to is something wonderful.

I believe that those little urges that come out of nowhere and those extraneous thoughts which just pop into our heads have a purpose. I believe they are evidence of something greater than ourselves trying to steer us in the right direction, nudging us down a path we should travel. Heed these signals when they happen. The world could use more wonderful things.