Hamster Wheels

My apartment currently contains two hamsters. Which is two more than I would prefer, but hey, as long as Chris takes care of them and I don't have to touch them, I won't make a fuss. Claus and Su-Su never did anything to me, so I don't have reason to kick them out or anything.

Claus is a Russian dwarf hamster, making him about a third the size of Su-Su. We're just babysitting Su-Su for a friend who is currently out of the country. Unfortunately, S-squared lives in a cage about a third the size of Claus's cage, with a hamster wheel that in no way fits his girth. Yet he keeps running on that thing, rotation after rotation, with his back arched painfully, covering almost 180 degrees of the wheel.

It's almost painful to watch him run on that miniature wheel. I'm not just saying that because he's a rodent and I generally distaste watching rodents do anything. Even people who appreciate hairball pets have commented, asking Chris, "Why does he run on that thing?" Chris shrugs and answers back,

"He was just made to run, I guess."

It got me thinking, because in that same room across from the hamster cage is the couch where you see my roommates spend hours and hours hunched over Bibles or scrunched in kneeling next to the coffee table praying. I'm encouraged and humbled by the collective yearn for God that is displayed by the 3 guys I live with. But at times their reaching out for God and wanting to meet with Jesus doesn't look comfortable or like it's the most fun thing in the world. But like that hamster folded in half in his wheel, they just keep running. So if a passerby would stop and ask, "Why does he pray and read his Bible like that?" I would have to shrug and reply,

"He was just made to be with God, I guess."