His name is Clyde Arthur. We call him Clyde, though a friend said he should be named "Arthur" because he is a "work of art." He's a recuperating part-Siamese, part "backyard fence" feline friend who has recently come to live with us.

We are in love. With a tractor-trailer purr, he welcomes each of us into his current sleeping spot. He enthusiastically rubs and nose-touches our faces in greeting. He mirowoooooos? mirrrrrrrayows? to tell us the latest in "Clyde's World". Meal times are met with a perfect crescendo of excited meows, rumbles and squeaks. Kids returning from school cuddle, pet and play with him.

Our other two long-time feline friends are not impressed. This slightly scraggly-looking critter is not perfect. He's scarred, with torn ears, bald places where the fur will not grow any more, and is cross-eyed to boot. He's used to being Top Cat. Their sniffs and tail twitches snort a ladylike "hmmph!"of disgust. "What IS it with you humans, anyway?" they seem to snort, with tails lashing and hackles raised. "We thought we had you trained!"

Clyde could have easily been ignored, allowed to wander away and die from his illnesses, or just put to sleep. He looked pretty ugly and sick. But a friend of ours, someone with a big heart, saw past the scarred exterior to the heart of his potential beneath, and rescued him. Now he's a seemingly irreplaceable part of our lives.

We humans are funny. So much of our opinions, our "rating" of those we meet are based on that snap judgment, that quick review of the outside shell. We think that, based on the individual's present condition, position or action, we can tell their value, their worth either to us or (if we are feeling magnanimous,) to society.

And so it is with my new feline friend, Clyde. On the outside, he looks like a tattered old tom cat, and that he should be all hisses and growls. But his purrs and affectionate ways reflect a happy cat, one that knows he finally found a place to call HOME. His contented, drowsily purring, sleeping form beside me says it all...

Who (or what) have I overlooked, or simply avoided, because I have made a wrong assumption or misjudged a rough exterior? FIND THE "CLYDE" in your life! DON'T MISS a blessing!