THE ORIGINS OF THE DOG AND CAT

And Adam said, "Lord, when I was in the garden, you walked with me
every day. Now I do not see you anymore. I am lonesome here and it is
difficult for me to remember how much you love me."

And God said, "No problem! I will create a companion for you that will
be with you forever and who will be a reflection of my love for you, so
that you will know I love you, even when you cannot see me. Regardless
of how selfish and childish and unlovable you may be, this new
companion will accept you as you are and will love you as I do, in spite
of yourself."

And God created a new animal to be a companion for Adam. And it was a
good animal. And God was pleased. And the new animal was pleased to be
with Adam, and he wagged his tail. And Adam said, "But Lord, I have
already named all the animals in the Garden, and all the good names
are taken, and I cannot think of a name for this new animal.

" And God said, "No problem! Because I have created this new animal to
be a reflection of my love for you, his name will be a reflection of my
own name, and you will call him DOG." And Dog lived with Adam and was a
companion to him and to Eve, and loved them. And Adam was comforted.
And God was pleased. And Dog was content and wagged his tail.

After a while, it came to pass that Adam's guardian angel came to the
Lord and said, "Lord, Adam has become filled with pride. He struts and
preens like a peacock and believes he is worthy of adoration. Dog has
indeed taught him that he is loved unconditionally, but no one has
taught him humility."

And the Lord said, "No problem! I will create for him a companion who
will be with him forever and who will see him as he is. The companion
will remind him of his limitations, so he will know he is not worthy of
absolute adoration."

And God created CAT to be a companion for Adam. And Cat would not obey
Adam. And when Adam gazed into Cat's eyes, he was reminded that he was
not the Supreme Being.

And Adam learned humility.

And God was pleased.

And Cat did not give a rat's "pah-too-de" one way or the other.

author unknown