When I went by my parents’ house today to feed the cat, I discovered that he had defecated on the carpet in two different places, even though there was no problem with his litter box. I’m not enough of a pet person to know what, if anything, this represents.

I’m also not a parent, but I was completely struck by this wonderful essay at the Christianity Today web site. Here’s a key point:

My doctorate is in anthropology, not child development theory, but it seems to me that potty training is a stage of immense psychological proportions. I’d even argue that it’s deeply spiritual.

Interestingly enough, one of the most moving and emotional sermons I’ve ever heard — which sticks with me a quarter of a century after I heard it — was by a man who had been a bed-wetter. He talked about how his grandmother was the only one who would pick him up and help him change clothes after he had wet the bed, and he used her as a metaphor for God’s unconditional love.