The Garfield Movie, in theatres now, is an animated comedy based on Jim Davis’ comic strip about Garfield, the Monday-hating, lasagna-loving orange cat. 

Far From Home

The film provides the tabby’s origin story, showing how as a kitten, Garfield (voiced by Chris Pratt, Guardians of the Galaxy) was frightened and alone, sitting in a cardboard box in an alley, when he caught a whiff of something delicious.

He ran across the street and spotted Jon Arbuckle (voiced by Nicholas Hoult, Tolkien, The Great) dining alone in an Italian restaurant. He gave Jon his cutest face, and that sealed the deal. Jon opened the window, letting Garfield into the eatery, and offered him a bite of pizza. Within minutes, Garfield had eaten every bite of food in the restaurant and then went home with Jon and cleaned out his refrigerator, too. 

“And that’s how I adopted Jon,” Garfield says proudly.

Jon introduced Garfield to his other pet, a dog named Odie, and the two became fast friends. They are enjoying the good life as pampered pets at Jon’s house when Garfield’s long-lost father shows up. Vic (voiced by Samuel L. Jackson, Star Wars) is a streetwise tomcat who has never been very interested in being a dad to Garfield. But now, Vic ropes Garfield and Odie into his plan—a high-stakes heist—which takes the trio far from the safety of Jon’s home.

Can Garfield complete Vic’s mission and find his way back to Jon? Maybe even more importantly, can he forgive his dad for abandoning him and build a relationship with Vic?

(Almost) Nobody’s Perfect

Many of us can relate to Garfield’s situation. We might have had a biological father who wasn’t very present in our lives. Maybe we were blessed to have someone else step in and fill that father role, loving us and taking care of us the way a dad should. Instead of referring to such men as stepdads, we should call them “stepped-up dads” for the way they step into the dad role. 

Maybe we had a great dad, but he’s no longer living. And, sadly, some of us might have been raised without anyone to be a father in our lives. All of these circumstances can leave us with wounds. 

When we’re having trouble forgiving someone, we should try praying for them. It might also help to remember that they’re overlooking our flaws, too. DIANE STARK

Earthly dads—even the good ones—make mistakes. And even when they’re doing their best, they’re going to let us down sometimes. They’re human beings and, by definition, that means they are flawed. 

No matter what our circumstances were growing up, we all have a Father in heaven who loves us and wants to have a relationship with us. He won’t ever abandon us, and He always keeps His promises.

God is the only perfect Father, but He doesn’t expect perfection from us, His children. And since our perfect God knows we’re going to make mistakes—and loves us anyway—we have to expect that the people in our lives are going to mess up sometimes, too. 

God forgives us for our mistakes and, in the Bible, He instructs us to forgive other people who wrong us. It’s one of the most difficult instructions God gives us, but when we think of everything we’ve been forgiven for, we realize we must try to forgive the people who’ve hurt us.

The famous evangelist Billy Graham once said, “It’s impossible to pray for someone and hate them at the same time.” 

When we’re having trouble forgiving someone, we should try praying for them. It might also help to remember that they’re overlooking our flaws, too. 

Let’s hope Garfield is thinking along those same lines, as well!

Illustration: Courtesy of Columbia Pictures