Pastoral Ponderings—Tex in the Window
I believe I’ve mentioned that our Bed and Breakfast wannabe is starting out life as a cat hotel. We’re keeping three long-term feline guests while their Soldiers are bounding around the world doing their Army duty. I’ve found that our furry guests can be both entertaining, and sometimes even a bit inspiring. Texas Pete is one of those entertaining animals whom I caught in the window last week—was he hiding behind the curtain, or gazing longingly outside, eager to pounce on whatever might come his way?
It’s early January. We’re putting Christmas away, struggling not to crash from the cookie and Christmas high that we all love. January has always been my least favorite month of the year for that very reason, so were I Texas Pete in the window in early January, I would rather be hiding behind the curtain. But Texas Pete is not I; he is not hiding, but if you saw him that day, you would know that he wasn’t hiding, but poking his head behind the curtain to see what exciting possibilities were back there.
Tex doesn’t see a dreary January day out the window with all the lights gone to remind us that Christmas is gone, too. Tex sees instead, a day full of possibilities–not naked trees shivering in the cold, but behind every tree quivering with eager possibility, stink bugs to chase, dark nooks and crannies to explore, and wood nymphs playing hide and seek, dancing in the shadows. Tex’s feline eyes glow with excitement with each new day and window of opportunity to explore. Like we did, Tex reveled in the joys of Christmas, but in his own furry way– loving the wrapping paper to crunch in, new toys to chase, and bows to pounce on too. But now there are new windows to explore.
Why can’t my eyes glow with the wonder in the shadows as Tex’s does, rather than sadden with each ornament and box being tucked away in the shadows for the next eternity until “it’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas” again? Three years ago when we were sitting on some of the same rocks Jesus sat on back in His day, we had feline friends crawling in our laps there, too, and their Jewish purrs sounded remarkably like the purring of American cats. I wonder if, still hiding in some of those dusty, as yet untranslated Dead Sea Scrolls, Jesus might have told some Parable of the Cat that somehow became lost in the dust of the ages?
We do have record of Jesus saying something to the effect that unless you see with the eyes of a child, you can’t see the glory of the Kingdom of Heaven. I bet in Jesus’ lost Parable of the Cat, He probably would have said something like unless you see with the eyes of a cat, you won’t be able to pounce on the glorious opportunities God puts in our path each day—even days like in a cold January!
Trying to see through the glow of a cat’s eyes—Rev. Jim